


Damaged Not Broken

by MysteriousShipper101 (Raistlin6Majere), Raistlin6Majere



Category: Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Amajiki Tamaki Needs a Hug, Angst, Anxious Amajiki Tamaki, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bad Parenting, Bakugou Katsuki Needs Therapy, Bakugou Katsuki Needs a Hug, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Cannon Complaint, Cats, Crossover, Don't want to spoil too much, Everyone Needs A Hug, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kirishima Eijirou Has Two Moms, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Multi, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Protective Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Protective Siblings, Shinsou Hitoshi Needs a Hug, Slow Burn, Tags Are Fun, Tags Are Hard, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor's Bad Parenting, Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug, but we are not doctors, cause it would spoil things lol, enjoy, or not?, some of these parents should not be allowed to have children, there are a lot of tags, there are two authors and we make mistakes, tried to make everything realistic, what even is cannon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 82
Words: 171,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24397447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raistlin6Majere/pseuds/MysteriousShipper101, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raistlin6Majere/pseuds/Raistlin6Majere
Summary: Gaara and his family are part of the bnha universe.  His father was a pro hero, and his siblings are twins and a couple years older than him.  Read on as Gaara deals with his emotional trauma as he tries to make it as a hero in a world that already fears him.  But wait... is that love in the air? Be prepared for love and potential ships that you might have never thought of before.Cover drawn and designed by usRead about the little smol bean! We appreciate any feedback or comments!
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Amajiki Tamaki/Toogata Mirio, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Gaara/Todoroki Shouto, Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou Hitoshi
Comments: 40
Kudos: 118





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! We are working on posting this to AO3... obviously... 
> 
> This is our first fanfiction so we are immeasurably glad that you are here reading this! We will try to limit the number of mistakes in here, spelling and grammar wise so it is easier to read. This will be a very wild ride. We have not read My Hero manga so we will be typing U.A., and some things may not be consistent with either because of plot reasons. We are going to try to keep the characters as close to their personalities and how we think they would act in certain situations but we may not get it right, or may have to change it, cause plot. 
> 
> Also for all you Rasa (Gaara's dad) lovers... sorry. It's for plot

_**Chapter 1 ~ Here's a Gaara** _

A quiet house stood alone at the end of a long driveway. The house was home to four people, a father, twins, and a younger brother. Few family photos were scattered throughout the home, none of them with more than three people in them. The front door slammed as Rasa came home.

  
The twins could tell their father was quite upset. He was never the most cheerful of people, but on this morning, he was particularly upset. Temari and Kankuro exchanged a confused glance as they finished their breakfast and got ready to head out for school.

As they were leaving, they shot a quick worried glance upwards toward a room and walked out the door. 

The room that the siblings glanced at was at the top of the stairs and belonged to their younger brother, Gaara.

"Gaara get down here!" shouted the infuriated Rasa. As soft, slow thuds made their way to the steps, Rasa used the time to calm himself some. Despite his hatred, he would need to take this cautiously if he was ever going to rid himself of his headache. Finally the small boy reaches the top of the stairs before making his way down. Out of the three kids, Gaara resembled their father the most, with the same red hair and pale skin. Though this is where the resemblance stopped, Gaara's pale blue eyes were glazed over and had dark bags under them.

"Yes, father?" the boy's almost rasp voice whispers. The tone Gaara carried was not that of someone scared, or confused, but instead seemingly void of any emotion at all. Rasa had to struggle not to show his annoyance at the lack of respect his son showed.

"I want to speak to you Gaara. Why don't we go for a walk?" Gaara watched his father for a moment, before giving a slight nod, still showing no clear sign of any mood.

The pair walked out the front door after Gaara was ready. Rasa led them through what one could call a maze, as they wove through traffic until finding themselves in back alleys, devoid of people. 

Rasa suddenly stopped. If Gaara's reflexes were not so sharp he would have ran right into his father. 

Rasa turned towards his son slowly, as if finally coming to a conclusion. 


	2. Chapter 2 ~ There's a Gaara

Rasa turned towards his son slowly, as if finally coming to a conclusion. "A demon like you should have never tainted my household," his father's voice was harsh and low. Despite the clear underlying threat in father's voice, Gaara couldn't feel true fear.

This would not be the first time someone had made a move on his life. Yet this time felt a bit different, it almost hurt. An almost distant pain made its way into Gaara's chest, before anyone made a move.

"Can't say anything in defense? I guess it is to be expected from a monster like you, you don't even fear me," Rasa's voice had become more aggressive, and full of anger.

The sand from the gourd on Gaara's back had come out and was floating around him defensively as he began gripping his shirt. He didn't like the pain he was feeling, but it seemed to happen each time someone tried to kill him. He couldn't understand why. Why was he being hurt when he was sure his father wasn't touching him? Gaara wasn't sure.

"You killed my wife, you disgusting disgrace!!!" His father's voice grew ever so louder, and Gaara seemed to shrink in his position. Despite only being a child, he could not cry. He felt so distant, he wasn't even sure why he felt any pain. He knew he was stronger than his father, yet he could make no move to defend himself, and could form no words as a golden knife materialized.

Gaara knew that if he didn't move that very second he would die. Despite the previous assassination attempts somehow ending with the assailant hospilized and Gaara untouched, Gaara never actually knew what happened.   
  
Everything always happened too fast for him. This time things were slightly different though, as everything seemed to move slowly. The knife inched its way towards Gaara's cold heart, and Gaara closed his eyes prepared for the inevitable. 

Gaara wasn't afraid to die, he really didn't have a preference if he was alive or not. His entire life was filled with pain and emptiness and his siblings feared him and didn't want him around. He was just some monster that killed his own mother, before he could ever see her disgusted face when she released the demon she had birthed. 

Gaara seemed to stand in that alleyway for hours. He opened his eyes to see what was taking the knife so long to reach its target. What he found was unexpected. A long serrated sword had stopped the blade in its tracks. Gaara followed the blade to its owner.

A gravelly voice broke the silence. "A hero attempting to kill his own son. Disgraceful." A man covered in rags and bandages glared at Rasa. Gaara didn't know how to react, so he stayed completely still.

"Stay out of this, whoever you might be. You shouldn't get involved in other people's affairs," Gaara's father warned. His voice was still threatening, but lacked the raw rage it held just moments ago. Now having the proheros attention, the mysterious man pulled his own blade back, and continued talking as if Rasa never spoke.

"So many call themselves heroes these days, and yet the moment they are out of the eye of the public, they attack their own children. You're just a false hero parading around and tainting the title," the man spoke. He seemed to have true devotion in what he said, speaking as if he had said similar things many times before. Rasa turned to face the man, finally recognizing the stranger as the new villain called the Hero Killer, Stain. Rasa's eyes narrowed at this realization.

"You're the Hero Killer. I guess that must mean I'm your new target," Rasa concluded, stating the obvious. 

Gaara wasn't sure what was happening. Just moments ago, his father was going to kill him, and yet now, someone was here, planning on killing his father. What was the world coming to? Can't a father kill his son in peace? He never really cared if he was to die, after all, he never had anything to live for. 

"Well you've caught me in a bad mood, Stain, any other day and you would go down with little more than a scratch, but today... I can't guarantee your survival," Rasa threatened. Instead of being afraid though, 'Stain' merely laughed. 

"Is that how you see this going? Killing villains isn't very hero-like." He laughed, before moving his sword into a better position to attack. 

A couple more blades materialized around Rasa as his eyes narrowed at the attacker. He didn't have time to deal with this madman. He had a few things to do that day, and if he took too long to rid himself of this new issue, he'd have almost no time to deal with his son. 

And so the battle commenced as blades went flying. It was almost too fast for Gaara to keep track of, but the small boy found himself unable to look away.

A few minutes into the battle, Rasa realized something. If he killed the hero killer, then his son, he could make a claim that his son was killed by Stain. A smirk leaked its way onto the man's face.

However, just as soon as the smile made its way onto his face, it was gone as a sharp pain ran across the right side of his face. He had been cut. The small cut didn't seem like much, so it only angered Rasa further. Stain did not see it the same way though as he quickly appeared on the other side of Rasa in order to retrieve his blade. Stain then creepily licked the small droplets of blood off of the blade with his lizard-like tongue.

"You're here preaching about what it is to be a hero and yet in actuality, you're just another sick-" Rasa found himself unable to finish his thought as everything froze up, and the golden blades collapsed into gold dust.

Gaara was severely confused at this point. What just happened? He had thought he was following along but now his father had collapsed to the ground. Gaara was getting tired of just standing around watching the fight, but was unsure of how he could help or what he could do. After all his father would have killed him if it weren't for this Hero Killer. 

The man in question started to chortle, "What was that you were saying, trash?" Rasa began to panic as Stain approached wielding his blade downward. His mind raced as he wondered where he went wrong in life. His eyes even darted towards his disgrace of a son, and he began to feel his hatred growing, as he blamed his cursed child for putting him in this situation. "Any last words?" Stain asked, raising the sword above Rasa's head.

"I hope the world sees you as the monster you are, Gaara" Rasa stated. Gaara felt no pain as the Hero Killer stabbed his father.

Little did they know others had just arrived at the scene, just in time to see the blade hit its mark. Stain's bloodshot eyes snapped towards the outliers and he fled, having taken care of his target. Despite feeling no pain, something inside of Gaara stirred, wanting out, as the sand that had been slowly dancing around him began to get thicker. Shouting was the only thing that halted his dangerous thoughts as his head turned to see Temari, Kankuro, All Might, and Kamui Woods coming towards him.


	3. Chapter 3 ~ And Another Little Gaara

Blinding lights filled Gaara's vision and lit up the alley like the day. Around his shoulders was a trauma blanket. Medics, which had just arrived, decided he was in shock due to his numb-like state.

Unbeknownst to them, this was how he was all the time. Gaara heard distant voices, but he could tell they were trying to keep their voices low. 

Suddenly a hand grabbed Gaara's arm and alarmed, reflexively, Gaara's sand took hold of the unknown limb and flung it and the connected body away and into the alley wall. The hushed voices now were yelling as people rushed toward the fallen pro hero. All Might went to the source of the violence, to find a small child surrounded by sand. He could tell it probably wasn’t an act of violence, but instead of self defense. Though he couldn’t help but feel fear at the power the small kid possessed, for he could tell there was a lot more to the child.

“That kid is a monster!” one of the medics exclaimed, examining Kamui for any injuries.

All Might spoke up, "The kid just saw his father killed, I think it would be wise not to touch him without asking him first." Kankuro and Temari had been fighting with the personnel there to go see their brother, and the comotion provided them a chance to slip by. 

Temari ran up to the swirling sand cocoon that contained her adorable baby brother. She knew that she could not just run up and hug him, no matter how badly she wanted to. Despite the fact she often found herself fearing her younger brother, she still loved him dearly. She was still shocked that her dad was gone, not that she was sad to see him go, the man refused to let them talk to Gaara under threat that he would beat him, but it was still shocking to see the man she called her father killed.

“Hey Gaara, are you okay?” Temari asked, shortly joined by her twin brother.

“Yo Gaara, you doing okay?” he repeated. Gaara looked at the two slightly confused. He wasn’t sure why they suddenly cared, or why they thought he wasn’t okay. Did he look upset? Was he supposed to be upset? Looking a bit closer, he could tell both his siblings seemed distressed. They probably hated him even more now, and yet they were asking if he was okay? Shouldn’t he be the one asking them? Were they just putting on a show for the people around? 

And yet Gaara found himself still feeling much different than himself. He had heard it enough from others to know that he was a monster without feelings valued by no one.

Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were then taken to the police station for further questions. All Might also followed behind them. In the police car Gaara ended up being sandwiched between his twin siblings, as they had insisted upon it. On arrival, they were sent into a room with a nice couch and a homey feel. Temari gingerly took Gaara's hand and led him to the couch, having him sit down before joining him herself, along with Kankuro on the other side. A few minutes later, All Might entered through the door. 

" I am walking through the door like a normal person" the big man emphasized,"Temari, Kankuro," he started, "one of my good friends in the police department would like to ask you all some questions, is that all right?" The pair looked questivly at Gaara who seemed confused.

"Gaara, I know you don't know me that well and don't trust me, but you should know that the quicker they get questions answered, the sooner this will be over." with this, Gaara gave a nod. It is not everyday that the number three hero suddenly gets murdered, now is it. All Might smiled and called out, "Tsukauchi, you can come in now." 

The door creaked open and a tall man with black eyes walked in. The uniformed man took a seat in front of the couch. 

"Good..." the man paused to check his watch, "after noon kids, I am Detective Tsukauchi and I am just going to ask y'all some questions." He stated cheerfully.

Gaara again nodded as the man continued. "So, what happened this morning?" As the man spoke he pulled out a notepad and a pen.

Temari spoke first. “Well this morning my brother and I just ate breakfast like usual before heading off to school. Though when Father got home he did seem quite upset,” Temari explained. Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow notioning them to expand. Temari seemed a little nervous at the thought but Kankuro had no issue with speaking.

"Our father seemed to always be upset, especially whenever the topic of Gaara came up." He said bitterly, "He did not like us talking about him or even interacting with him. Though we often found ourselves too terrified to even try,” Kankuro found himself getting slightly off topic, and was lightly punched in the arm by Temari for stating that.

“You were scared of your brother?” the detective asked, finding the news hard to believe seeing how calm and polite the boy seemed.

" Well a little, yes, but mostly of our father,” Temari quickly interjected before Kankuro could dig their hole any deeper. Neither of them hated their brother, and Temari feared what they would do to him if they knew of his power and what it had done to people. Tsukauchi paused, looking between the three kids, hoping that one would explain further, but did not push them when none of them budged.

“So what were you doing Gaara?” he then asked. The smol bean looked up at the man.  
"I was in my room, my father had not yet given me permission to come down yet." He spoke softly. 

“Permission?" The detective inquired. "And how did you end up in the alley with your father?”

“My father didn’t allow me to leave my room without summoning me first. I ended up in the alley because he called me downstairs when he got home and told me he wanted to talk. He probably wanted to talk about the man I injured. He is always angry when they fail to kill me. We went down some alleyways until he turned to me and attempted to kill me,” Gaara plainly said. 

The detective stopped writing to look up at Gaara, trying to hide his shock. The detective knew that the previous number three hero was not a nice guy, but never would he have guessed that something of this nature would ever happen. 

“Your father tried to kill you?” Tsukauchi asked. Gaara gave a small shrug.

“It wasn’t really unexpected, seeing as how he had sent others to kill me previously. They all failed and ended up hospitalized. This only furthered his anger until I assume he had enough and tried to do it himself. However, just as I was about to die,” Temari suddenly grabbed Gaara’s hand. He looked down and continued, sending a glare in her direction. “A man showed up that my father recognized as Stain. They fought and my father died.” Gaara spoke very bluntly and concisely, not saying anything he deemed unnecessary.

As Gaara finished, he became aware that Temari was still holding his hand. “Temari, let go.” Gaara harshly ordered. Temari jumped at his dangerous tone and quickly released his hand. The detective watched all this, calmly collecting his thoughts while formulating a plan.

"Alrighty, it has been a long day for all of you, so we can continue this at a later date. I need to speak with my friends here at the department, after that, we will get you on your way." The detective finished. He started to collect his things.

"EXCUSE ME," Kankuro interrupted, "Just where will we be off to?" He said sassaly, earning himself another jab from Temari. 

"Well that is a great question, All Might and others are going to discuss this with you, in fact, he may be on his way back now." All Might had entered the room with them and the twins had not realized that he had left when he had gotten a phone call. Gaara saw his siblings surprised faces and thought, how are their faces not permanently stuck like that, and how could they not have heard the loud ringtone announcing: I am here! 

The detective leaves the room, and the siblings sit in an uncomfortable silence, waiting for those that would decide their future. 


	4. Chapter 4 ~ Sandy Gaara

Tsukauchi walked into the meeting room where All Might, Nezu, Aizawa, and Midnight were talking. 

“Ah, just in time,” the anthropomorphic mouse stated. The detective nodded his head, “What have you learned?”

“Well the kids seem to be alright, but I do have some concerns about Gaara,” Tsukauchi began. Despite All Might acting as if he had something to say on this matter, the detective went on. “The kid seemed to be in a state of shock at first glance, but with further questioning, it seems to just be his state. This was possibly brought on from his father’s behavior towards him: isolating him, belittling him, and even hiring others to kill him. How he survived isn’t quite clear, but it seems he has a strong quirk.” Nezu nodded, stroking his chin.

“So are you saying the kid is damaged?” The mouse asked. All Might intervened.

“Now, now. The kid is still pretty young, and you have said he has a strong quirk. While I did see him act quite violently, I don't think it was out of hostile intent at all. The kid has been called a monster all his life and needs guidance,” All Might stated, seemingly already favoring the small redhead. Nezu took this in, thinking about what course of action would be safest for all involved.

“The twins seem like they'll do fine, Miss Midnight, do you mind watching over them till we can find them a better place to stay?” Nezu asked. The pro hero shrugged.

“Sure, why not? It can get pretty lonely at home sometimes,” Midnight teased knowing it would upset All Might.

“As for the kid. He hasn’t been enrolled in school, but since he still seems to be in an unstable state, he needs to be under capable hands who would be able to stop him if he got out of control. He also probably hasn’t had the best of schooling,” he stated. The tired teacher in the room let out a sigh, already knowing where this was going. “Aizawa, I'm sure you and Yamada have room. Would you mind keeping an eye on Gaara?” Nezu ‘requested,’ though Aizawa knew he didn’t really have a choice. He didn’t mind too much, but he did know it would be more work and less sleep.

“Yeah, but I am still a teacher, and that takes up most of my time…” Aizawa’s voice teetered off. “You plan on the kid coming to class 1a. What should I tell them? They’re a pretty smart bunch?” Aizawa sleepily asked. This was too much work for him.

Nezu gave a sly smile. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” And with that, they were dismissed. Aizawa lagged behind, not ready to break the news. He sighed, grabbed and put on his offensively bright yellow sleeping bag and shuffled out the door. 


	5. Chapter 5 ~ Scary Gaara

Back at the police station, the siblings were still waiting in awkward silence. It had already been 30 minutes and Kankuro was bored. Temari was getting worried, while Gaara just sat there, lost in thought. After a couple more restless minutes, the detective finally returned followed by a couple of pro heros, and a human-like mouse.

Kankuro let out an audible sigh of exasperation as they walked in, this adding to the growing bruise on his side.

“So have you figured out where we’ll be staying?” Temari eagerly asked. She just wanted to put the whole event behind her. Nezu, UA’s principal stepped forward to explain.

“Yes. We’ll have you and Kankuro go with Midnight,” the mouse waved to the sketchy heroine. “While Gaara will be staying with Aizawa,” he added as the lackluster hero stepped forward, no longer in his sleeping bag. Nezu had expected there might be an issue with the sleeping arrangements, but he never could have predicted the outrage. Temari and Kankuro jumped to their feet as they began shouting.

“What?! Why is Gaara going with someone else?! Do you think we’ll just leave our brother when he’s all we have?!” Temari was the first to shout. Her rage gave a dangerous presence, and immediately gave Aizawa a headache. He really didn’t have enough sleep for this kind of stress.

“When we finally can be around our baby brother you want us to abandon him?!” Kankuro chipped in.

“Now, now you two, this is for the best. We don’t feel you’ll be safe-” Tsukauchi never got to finish his defence as Temari burst out, the air around them seemed to get almost to start moving.

“What? That we won’t be safe? We’ve lived with him our whole lives!” Temari verbally attacked. Everyone seemed to be cautious of speaking, seeing as how upset the girl was getting. Gaara continued to watch. He felt like this was going to be yet another thing he wouldn’t understand. Why was everyone so upset? Was them being seperated that bad? They never spent time together before. Gaara decided not to question it further.

Finally, after a tense moment of silence, Aizawa decided to end the madness. He let out a long sigh, causing dark teal eyes to shoot in his direction. “Listen, if this keeps up, we’ll be here all day. You kids still need to grab your belongings. I have enough room at my place for all three of you, and I’m sure Mic and the cats would love the company.” With that, the tension was gone, and a large smile found its way on Temari’s face. She gave Kankuro a large hug, and even forcibly hugged Gaara lightly.

“Thank you so much Mr. Aizawa!” Temari cheered, bowing her head in thanks before smacking the backside of Kankuro’s head reminding him to do the same. Gaara just stood there indifferent. The people in the room took note of the way he reacted.

“I guess that should work,” Nezu nodded, not wanting to push it. “Then Tsukauchi and Aizawa will accompany you three to your home, and then to your new home!” Nezu exclaimed with a clap of his paws. Aizawa shot him a slight glance, so he corrected his wording. “Well temporary home,” Nezu amended "we can figure out the logistics later."

The heroes and observers filed out of the room leaving Aizawa, the detective and the siblings.

After packing any possessions they felt they needed or wanted the kids went with Aizawa to their new home. Everything had gone quite smoothly except for Kankuro who was being particularly difficult about his cactus since he wouldn’t carry his other bags in fear of dropping it. The cactus was VERY important to Kankuro and protected like a mother hen protects her chicks. Gaara had only a small bag filled with clothes while Temari had two immensely large suitcases and Kankuro had a backpack and a suitcase. Aizawa unfortunately got stuck with Kankuro’s bags and they made their way back to the car. The detective dropped them off, helping to unload the baggage as they arrived at the home. Aizawa managed to knock on the door some with his elbow, just enough for the other human inhabitant to hear. Footsteps could be heard running full speed towards the door, before suddenly grinding to a halt with a thud, and a loud yelp that did not come from the source of the voice.

"SHOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTAAAAAA" exclaimed a loud voice before the door swung open. In the doorway stood a tall man with long blonde hair that stood up, who had their arms wide open and a large grin. The blonde leapt onto the tired hero wrapping him in a large hug, completely ignoring the large bags he was holding. “I’m so glad you’re back! You were gone for ssoooooooooo long!” He whined, before being forced off.

“Calm down Hizashi, we have company,” Aizawa duly stated, unaffected by the man’s outgoing personality. The twins stood mystified by the strange relationship, wondering why such a quiet man would be roommates with a man the complete opposite of him. Gaara just hoped the loud noise would stop. Unfortunately, Yamada finally noticed the three kids standing there quite confused.

“YOU FINALLY CHANGED YOUR MIND!” Present Mic shouted, causing poor Gaara to cover his ears, an act which only Temari noticed. Present Mic looked over the kids, pausing at the cat-like boy who held a large pot, with a small cactus, that appeared dehydrated. He wondered if the boy was watering the poor thing enough. "Though I do wish you would have brought me along,” he quietly added.

“I didn’t adopt them.” Aizawa cleared up. This dropped Mic’s excitement slightly. At this Present Mic’s head drooped in disappointment, looking much like the cactus Kankuro was holding, this was short lived however, as he took in the rest of what Aizawa has to say, “We’re just going to be watching over them for some time until a few things get cleared up, I’ll explain more later.”

“This is great! Come on in kids,” Present Mic said perking up, ushering them into the house. Kankuro eagerly walked in, hoping to find a good spot for his most prized possession. Temari walked in slowly, making sure Gaara was very close, feeling worried he was uncomfortable. They were shortly followed by the two pro heros they would be staying with. Once inside, Present Mic waved his hand. “You can just set your stuff down for now and we’ll take care of it when we get your rooms sorted out. For now, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourselves?” Present Mic suggested, eager to hear about the kids.

Kankuro spoke up first. “I’m Kankuro. This is my cactus, which needs to be watered precisely at 3 pm every other day.” At that fact Present Mic raised an eyebrow. He was pretty sure cacti were succulents and actually do better when they aren’t watered so often. He assumed that’s why it looked so bad.

“I guess I’ll go next,” Temari began after a few moments of silence. She had been hoping Gaara would speak, but decided to do so for him. “I’m Temari, my quirk is Fan, which allows me to manipulate wind,” she stated clearly. “Kankuro and I are twins and this is our little brother, Gaara, his quirk is sand… He doesn’t talk much,” Temari added, not wanting to discuss the truth about Gaara’s past at this particular moment. Present Mic looked at the small pale boy, making a promise to himself to get the boy to open up.

“Alrighty! I’m next! My name is Yamada Hizashi, but you know me better as…” Yamada paused, hoping they’d jump in, but was clearly disappointed. “Present Miccc!” He cheered, seemingly unaffected by the let down.

“We do know who you are, you know, we haven’t been living under a rock.” Kankuro boredly said, earning yet another whack from Temari. Kankuro continued on ignoring the sharp pain in his side. “We go to UA as third years, the better question is how do you not know of us-” Whack.

“Ouch! Would you stop?” Kankuro growled, glaring at his sister.

“Only when you stop acting rudely! They are letting us stay in their home together, instead of Gaara being separated from us!" Temari shot back.

Yamada gasped. "THEY WERE GOING TO SEPERATE YOU GUYS?!" He blurted. Aizawa gave a sigh, having not wanted him to know because he knew that Hizashi would react like this. Gaara covered his ears again in annoyance and pain.

“Yes. Nezu thought it would be best to put the twins with Midnight instead, for safety reasons. I had done this to stop the shouting, and I figured you wouldn’t mind,” Aizawa plainly explained. This sparked slight confusion from the loud man as he turned to the boy who was glaring at him.

“For safety? What could this little listener do?” Present Mic questioned. Present mic was oblivious to Gaara's scary aura and only saw his fluffy red hair and small stature. He then tried reaching down to ruffle the boy’s hair, but instead found himself blocked by a small layer of sand floating above Gaara.

“They're Rasa’s kids, Hizashi. And you should know how strong each generation is getting,” Aizawa pointed out.

"Rasa's?" Hizashi questioned with a frown, "I thought he only had two?"

‘ _Ah, so he does know about us_ ' Kankuro thought with a smirk.

“No, he had three, but his youngest son wasn’t talked about much because of an incident with his-” Aizawa had tried explaining but stopped when he noticed the dangerous look from Temari. “An incident,” Aizawa concluded.

“Plus Father never liked Gaara, and didn’t want his ‘devil of a son’ getting much attention. So I understand that you might not have heard of him,” Temari said sarcastically with annoyance. Finally noticing the tense atmosphere, Present Mic decided to leave the questioning at that, and reminded himself to just bug Aizawa about it later.

“Well you three must be hungry, how about I cook you up something to eat while Aizawa shows you to the spare rooms?” Present Mic suggested. Temari and Kankuro nodded to this, and Gaara even gave slight nod of acknowledgement, happy to get away from the obnoxious man. Aizawa then led the three upstairs where he showed them three spare bedrooms, having them sort out who gets what room. Gaara went with the room furthest from the stairs, which was possibly the smallest out of the three. However, Kankuro and Temari didn’t have such an easy time choosing.


	6. Chapter 6 ~ Gaara, Gaara, Lee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swirls: Savannah Cats have very loving and outgoing personalities. They are highly intelligent cats and learn quickly. Most of them love to explore the outside on a leash, or play outside in the safety of an enclosed area. Some love to play fetch and follow their favorite person around like a dog throughout the house. They're also like pretty large.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little information about Swirls's breed if ya were curious. We based this chapter around the show but we did change some wording because of plot and how we don't need everything. We also may cut a character out cause this is fanfiction lol. Thank you and Enjoy!!!

The morning came slowly for Gaara. Nomatter how tired he might have felt, he couldn't let himself rest. While he might have been used to this at home, this was not his home.   
He had none of his textbooks to study from. Gaara had assumed he would have some kind of education, and that it would be unnecessary to bring books if he was just going to get new ones. He hoped he wouldn't be too far behind in studies, seeing as the only way he had been 'taught' anything was from his siblings and himself.

Despite this, he had something unexpected keeping him up: Swirls. Swirls had followed Gaara into his room, and joined him on the bed. Gaara liked animals, so he didn't mind that much. Though the cat seemed to have a lot to say. It began with just a soft purr as the two watched each other, but the cat only grew louder.

At some point it began chirping, attempting to get closer to the boy. After the cat began to meow as loud as Mic talked, Gaara had enough. Gaara reached over to shoo the cat away, but the cat went towards his hand. His first reaction was amazement at the soft, fine hair that brushed against his skin. Then he felt more relaxed as the cat's cries diminished, and it began purring softly. Gaara spent the rest of the night with Swirls, who would get louder if he slightly shifted his attention from the cat. Gaara's time with the cat came to an end when Aizawa lightly knocked on the open door, and stepped into the doorway.

"Everyone's getting up, but we still have an hour before we should leave," Aizawa informed Gaara. They both seemed equally tired, and Gaara wondered if Aizawa's quirk also prevented him from sleeping. "Mic's making scrambled eggs if you're hungry," Aizawa paused, glancing at the purring cat, who was now laying on Gaara's lap. "Or when you're able to get up." Gaara began to get up, and was pleased as the cat stood up, and hopped off the bed, waiting for him to get up. Gaara then made his way downstairs after getting dressed, the cat at his heels the whole way.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Gaara found a disaster. Apparently, Mustachio had decided to try and get the bacon off of the stove while Yamada was busy fussing over the twins. Unfortunately, Mustachio managed to spill the bacon grease onto the burner which had started a small fire.

Aizawa was holding a freaked out Mustacho while shaking his head and Yamada was frantically spraying the fire with fire extinguisher, more of the retardant ending up on everything but the now extinguished fire. Tamari and Kankuro just stood helpless not knowing what to do and wondering if it was always like this around here.

"Don't, uh, worry about this, little listeners, slight setback, but I made extra and the bacon is safe," Present Mic reassured noticing the kids' worry. With this, they all ate breakfast, and finished getting ready for school.

Temari and Kankuro were very worried for their baby brother. They couldn't help but worry he'd not make any friends due to his introverted personality, and that he'd scare the other kids. On top of that, they felt he was quite nervous too. After all, he'd never been to school before, and there were a decent amount of students and Gaara was uncomfortable around large amounts of people. Gaara, on the other hand, didn't feel worried. If anything, he felt almost peeved.

Though he was ready to finally have something to do during the day, the fact he would have to spend time around potentially obnoxious people didn't seem like a good idea.

Gaara and Aizawa got to the large school decently early, but Aizawa had Gaara go on ahead, so he wouldn't stand out. A couple minutes in and Gaara already found himself getting annoyed. There seemed to be a couple of people arguing and the noise was very frustrating. So, Gaara waited, trying to focus on Aizawa's voice. Because Aizawa had predicted Gaara being slightly overwhelmed, he told Gaara to just focus on him talking, so he could know when they were going to be moving.

"If you're just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now," Aizawa's voice broke Gaara's frustration. Gaara slowly looked up from his desk towards the doorway, where three students stood. Because Gaara was seated in the back, he could not see Aizawa, however as soon as everyone made their way to the doorway, Gaara went closer too. "It took eight seconds before you all shut up, that's not gonna work, time is precious. Rational students would understand that." Aizawa stated calmly. The other students seemed quite shocked by the man, not realizing he was their teacher.

"Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa, your teacher," Aizawa continued. This only further shocked students. He then reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out some uniforms. "Right, let's get to it. Put these on and head outside," Aizawa ordered.

After the students had gotten changed, Aizawa led everyone to a baseball field with scanners set up in various places. Gaara felt a tinge of panic, having noticed all of the sand. He knew he would have to work harder to keep both of his powers in check, especially Tails. Gaara did not want to kill someone on his first day of school. Gaara missed much of what Aizawa said, but he caught the last part of it.

"...I would like you to throw this ball with your quirk, Bakugo," Aizawa finished, holding up a ball with a tracker on it, while the student Gaara assumed was Bakugo walked forward and took it. "Anything goes, just stay inside the circle." He informed Bakugo. "Go on, you're wasting our time," Aizawa rushed when Bakugou hesitated.

"Alright man, you asked for it," Bakugo muttered, stretching his arms, before winding up and causing what appeared to be a large explosion to the ball as he threw it.

"Oh wow," a short green haired boy mumbled, completely stunned by the raw power.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities," Aizawa had begun. A beep sounded as the tracker sent back a signal as to how far the ball traveled. "It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero." Aizawa held up the small device which showed the numbers '705.2.' Multiple people gasped at this, but Gaara seemed unimpressed. He knew he could throw the ball farther, that he was much stronger than the people there.

" _And it'd be so easy to crush any one of them,_ " a voice suddenly said. Instead of being alarmed though, Gaara felt irritated. He didn't want to deal with the demon at this moment. He knew he needed to focus all his attention on getting through the day, at least getting away from all that sand. Some kids had cheered, and Gaara knew he missed something that sounded like three years to become a hero and hero work wasn't fun and games, but he didn't care as long as he heard what he needed.

"The lowest scoring student will be immediately expelled." Aizawa stated without remorse. As expected the students did not react well to this. Mainly a bubbly brunette that Gaara did not think that he would get along with, she reminded him too much of Present Mic.

"You can't kick us out on the first day, that isn't fair," the brunette complained.

"Oh and you think natural disasters are? Or power hungry villains, hm? Or catastrophic (cactus) events that wipe out whole cities? No the world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, the UA will throw one curveball after another at you, so go beyond, plus ultra style. Show me it's no mistake." Aizawa concluded his speech.

Immediately after the speech, the tall, black haired student pulled out water and began aggressively sipping the straw.

With this the testing started. First was the 50 meter-sprint. So far everyone was doing well except for a couple of people. Gaara took note that the happy green bush wasn't that fast, even though his aura was quite powerful.

Then, it was Gaara's turn and so in order to not stand out too much, he attempted to just glide along the sand, which had the opposite effect as the other student's realized he could do a lot with all the sand in the field. He had managed to keep his speed below two students' so he wouldn't get first, though. Before this, people were not paying any attention to him whatsoever; however, now he was getting stares and interested whispers all around him.

Gaara couldn't do too well on the next test so he dropped a place. He had never really worked on his physical body as much as he should have, seeing as how he had always had a weak constitution because of Tails and his premature birth, but Aizawa told him they would need to work on that.

On the standing long jump, Gaara managed to propel himself, so he once again obtained third place. Unfortunately, all this effort to restrain himself only tired him out further, allowing the Tails' whispers to become harder to ignore. He didn't do too well on the side steps, but then came the ball throw. Gaara went second to last. Aizawa made eye contact with him before he handed Gaara the ball. If Gaara could read emotions, he would have realized that Aizawa was concerned about him. Gaara tried to push out the pestering voice of Shukaku as he focused on only using a small amount of his power.

However, Gaara was exhausted. The sand around him was channeling extra power into him and he already had to deal with the Tails pestering him to let loose and stop holding back.

As Gaara started to throw the ball Shukaku made a grab for control and Gaara had to shift his focus to restraining it. This caused him to use way more power than he wanted to. As Gaara watched the ball disappear into nothing, all he could think was: ' _Now I have done it_.'

The voices around him went hush as they all waited for a reading. Aizawa's device beeped and he turned it towards the students. 'ERROR' was all the screen showed.


	7. Valentine's Day Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has nothing to do with the actual storyline since it definitely would not make since for it to occur yet. However, we have always wanted to write a special chapter, since we read so many, lol. We have never written any fluff or stuff like that before......... however we have read a lot so...... the more you practice the better you get? 😬 You can skip this! We hope you are having a great Valentines day or just a great Friday!

Gaara looks down at the red bag in his hands. Temari had suggested that he bring chocolate to Todoroki, but was confused as to why he would do this. Last night, Temari had spent all of her weekend teaching Gaara to make chocolate because she claimed it was more personal. Gaara didn't know why chocolate had to be personal, it was just chocolate after all. Temari had tried to explain that the next day would be Valentine's day and you gave chocolate and other gifts to your loved ones on that day. When he had got out of bed in the morning, Temari had given him heaping amounts of the sweet and an intense hug. He had tried to leave the red bag at home, but as they left for school, Temari shoved it into his hands. It was then Gaara decided that it would be easier to just take the chocolate than to try to dissuade his overly excited sister. He also thought the chocolate would be a good thank you gift for the help Todoroki had given him. The only issue was figuring out when he should give it to him.

Gaara had left the treats inside his locker for most of the day, unsure of when the best time would be. Unfortunately, they never really ran into each other throughout the day. In fact at one point, he had completely forgotten about the chocolate, only remembering it at the end. He had decided that he would try to explain to his sister he didn't have the opportunity, when Todoroki came up to him. Gaara decided to take his chance, pushing the bag towards Todoroki showing no emotion. "Here." Gaara said plainly. Todoroki blushed and Gaara blinked in confusion. Todoroki pulled out a small pink bag.

"I have something for you as well," Todoroki stated avoiding eye contact, "my sister told me to bring you chocolate for some reason so I made some last night."

"My sister told me the same thing and forced me to take some, yet she also said that chocolate was given to those you love though, so I am confused." Gaara said. Todoroki stopped avoiding eye contact, slight fear in his heterochromic eyes.

"You were forced to make the chocolate?" Todoroki managed out. This made Gaara stop before speaking. Did he say something wrong? He had been trying to learn more about emotions and expressing feelings.

"Didn't you just say that you were forced as well?" Gaara inquired. Todoroki finally realized the pure confusion in Gaara's eyes and felt slightly relieved as he gave a small smirk. He had almost gotten worried over a boy who had never felt many feelings other than pain.

"It was suggested but only because I asked her what to do to show someone that I loved them." Todoroki slyly said. Gaara grew only more confused. Was Todoroki implying that he loved him? Did he mean it like when Temari and Kankuro said those words? Or when Present Mic tells Aizawa? If he meant it like the last one did he return those feelings? What is love anyway?

Todoroki's chuckle broke Gaara away from his thoughts, and Gaara began to feel a very unfamiliar feeling: embarrassment. "Don't think too much Gaara, it's a simple gift," Todoroki smiled, in an almost whisper. With that, he spun around and walked away. Gaara stood, flustered and still trying to figure out what just happened. He would have to ask Temari about how to feel. Suddenly, Todoroki turned around.

"By the way," Todoroki paused for dramatic effect. "You look cute when you're flustered." And with that, he was gone.

**Later at The Todoroki household...**

Todoroki got home and dove onto his bed. He could not believe that he actually said those things. 'I guess this is what Fuyumi meant when she said people act weird when they're around people they like, and can act irrationally. Midoriya, did you have this problem when speaking to Shinso? Should I ask Fuyumi for advice? Midoriya? Shinso? Aizawa?!' He muttered with growing intensity before giving up and screaming into his pillow.

**Meanwhile with Present Mic...**

Yamada opened the bathroom door to see Kankuro. "Sorry! I'm still not used to living with other people!" He said while quickly closing the door. A second later the door opened again. "Um... just what are you doing...?" Yamada was filled with questions as he watched the cat-like boy dripping small droplets of melted chocolate into his cactus' pot.

"I'm giving chocolate to the one I love," Kankuro plainly said, seemingly satisfied by the ring of chocolate now in the soil. Yamada blinked his eyes slowly.

"... It's a cactus," Yamada reminded Kankuro. Kankuro turned to him, slightly confused.

"And?" Kankuro questioned. Yamada tried opening his mouth, but decided to drop the subject about loving a cactus.

"Is that even good for the cactus?" Yamada asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, you must give your plants lots of love if you want them to grow up big and strong." Kankuro responded. Yamada began to tell Kankuro that just because chocolate could show love, it may not be the best thing for a cactus but instead was interrupted by a shrill shriek coming from downstairs.

"My baby brother is in love!" Came Temari's voice from the living room. Gaara had come home and told his sister about what happened with Todoroki, only to find himself regretting his decision. At this Yamada abandoned the poor and abused cactus to rush downstairs to the pair. There he saw Gaara's sand starting to creep off of him, as the blonde girl was brimming with energy, "I can't believe he's moving so fast!" Yamada was immediately interested.

"What's this about young love?" Yamada inquired from the blonde, because he knew that the redheaded bean was not going to say anything about the matter. Temari's attention snapped towards the intruder and immediately became defensive.

"Nothing for you to know. I am the one Gaara went to, and it is therefore my duty to protect his secret love with my life," Temari said, putting a hand in front of her brother. This only intensified the pro hero's curiosity. Temari turned to Gaara. "Don't worry Gaara, we will continue this elsewhere," she promised, before pushing Gaara out of the room. Yamada watched with growing depression and curiosity. He just wanted to be prominent in his "kids'" lives. He sighed and went to cry about it to Shota.


	8. Chapter 7 ~ Gaara, Gaara, Shino, Gaara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short to make it flow better!

“ _We can do much better. You should let me have more control, nobody got hurt this time. I want to have more fun Gaara, and if you let me, you’ll have fun too_ ,” All Gaara could hear was Shukaku’s voice as he gripped his head crouching down. “ _Stop resisting. You want to have fun too, I can t-_ ” Suddenly Shukaku went silent, and Gaara heard nothing. He slowly looked up to see Aizawa’s white cloth out, his hair up, and his eyes red as he stared at the young boy. Aizawa was erasing his quirk.

“That’s enough Gaara, you can come back over here,” Aizawa told him, ignoring the rising questions. He knew he was going to have trouble with the kid. Aizawa let out a small sigh as the other kid he had an issue with finally realized he was the pro hero Eraserhead. 

So Aizawa told the freckle-faced boy that he didn’t think the kid belonged at all, and that he couldn't become a hero with his type of quirk, but let the boy take his shot anyways. 

Gaara hadn’t been paying much attention by then though, as he noticed eyes on him. They weren’t even the students’ eyes, he assumed that was because they were terrified and confused. He found himself looking at the pro hero who was there when his father was murdered. All Might, stood peeking out from behind the wall, his eyes mainly watching the now terrified green bush. The green haired boy wound up, and threw the ball, activating his quirk at the last moment, with all his might. The ball shot off, and the boy’s index finger became a dark purple hue.

Gasps again sounded as Aizawa showed the screen, '705.3', .1 more than Bakugo’s score. People started commenting on his quirk. The blonde pomeranian stood speechless, his jaw dropped. He seemed to be the most confused and angry before rushing the bush.

“Hey! Deku you bastard, tell me how you did that, or you’re so dead!” Aziawa’s capture weapon muzzled the boy. “What? Why the hell is your damn scarf... so strong?”

“Because it is a capture weapon made out of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy.” Aizawa answered. Bakugo continued struggling against the scarf. “Stand down. It would be wise to avoid making me use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry-eye,” Aizawa complained. “You’re wasting my time now,” as he said this his capture weapon went back. “Whoever is next can step up,” Aizawa ordered, walking away. ‘Deku,’ or greenboy went back to the group, where everyone immediately started fussing over him.

“ _He sure is anggrrryy,”_ Shukaku suddenly said, commenting on the fuming boy. Gaara just rolled his eyes, ignoring the demon’s voice. The rest of the tests went by with no further issues. Gaara stopped trying to be discreet, and just walked the long distance run, earning him some strange looks, and a disapproving look from Aizawa. Some of the students wondered if Gaara’s quirk just took up a lot of his energy, but in reality he was just mentally done. Shukaku kept bothering him, and so he had no energy to try on any of the other tests. “ _It’d be so easy to glide to first place, or just transport ourselves up front. Why are you being so difficult?_ ” Shukaku whined.

“ _Just shut up. You’ve been talking nonstop this whole time_ ,” Gaara grumbly replied to the demon within his mind. This only further encouraged the talkative raccoon.

“ _Maybe if you talked more often, I wouldn’t have to. Instead, it feels like I’m the only one doing anything, and all you do is shove me away, and prevent me from having any fun_ ,” Shukaku argued. Gaara was done trying to talk to the thing, and instead focused on reaching the end of the day.


	9. Chapter 8 ~ Sauske, Kiba, Chouji, Gaara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kankuro's Cactus: If you were curious here is some info about it: “Mother of Thousands is a curious plant that forms tiny plantlets on the edges of its leaves. It is also known as alligator plant or devil’s backbone. From Madagascar, the Mother of Thousands is a succulent that doesn’t require frequent watering to grow.” Kankuro’s succulent may not seem healthy, and if you know anything about caring for these plants, or even any, you’d know he isn’t doing a good job. He’s actually doing so bad that most of the time it is a new plant. This succulent’s plantlets grow at a rapid rate, even faster than normal ones. Due to this, the original plant could die and a plantlet could have replaced the previous one, while showing no obvious signs of being a different plant. This phenomenon will be the explanation for why it is still thriving despite all the abuse that’s in store for it, whether that abuse be intentional or not. Sorry this part was so long and the chapter so short!

The results of the tests were shown as soon as everyone was done. 

The green bush was in last place, although no surprise there. Gaara had thought the boy would be more powerful based on his aura, but he would just have to wait and see.

Gaara had placed in the middle of the standings and Shukaku was quite enraged by this fact, especially because if Gaara had tried, he could easily have gotten at least fifth. 

The real question was if Aizawa was going to follow through on his threat to expel last place. Gaara wasn't sure. He had never been good at reading people, but Aizawa was particularly hard to read. 

"And I was lying, no one is going home." Aizawa declared turning off the scoreboard. Everyone in the class started to freak out, Gaara really couldn't stand their loudness and walked away from the group. He did notice that some seemed unsurprised by this information and he wondered how they could read the teacher without knowing him prior. 

Gaara was walking away when Aizawa caught up to him. Gaara did not acknowledge him as they started walking side-by-side back to the classroom.

Much to Gaara's approval, Aizawa did not attempt to spark up a conversation as they walked. Suddenly, they were stopped by All Might.

"Aizawa, that was a rotten move." The tall defined man spoke up. He did not seem to notice Gaara standing beside the person he was chastising.

The pair continued to bicker in a child-like manner. The big man mentioned that Aizawa had expelled an entire freshman class last year. This new information just made Aizawa more difficult for Gaara to read, since it seemed to contradict what the teacher had done earlier.

“ _You’ve never thought this much on how others felt_ ,” Shukaku commented, noticing Gaara’s mental notes. Gaara narrowed his eyes.

_“It seems to be something I should look into if I am to get through school_ ,” Gaara replied back. Shukaku let that sink in some, trying to get a better idea of how their host felt. Gaara had never expressed an interest in wanting to understand emotion better, and so Shukaku was surprised to hear this. 

" _Are you certain that you are not just growing soft? Soon enough you will have the things the fan girl calls friends again and you know what happened last time_." Shukaku whispered, " _We should join together and kill them all, don't let them hurt you this time_."

Gaara responded to Shukaku like he normally did: by not reacting at all. However, Gaara did think about what he had said, he did not want to admit that Shukaku was right, but he would have to be careful keeping his walls up going forward.

Due to his conversation with Shukaku he had missed the rest of the chatter between the two men and looked up to see Aizawa heading off. 

It was then that All Might noticed Gaara. Not wanting to startle the boy, he just walked in silence as he kept pace with Aizawa. All Might suddenly felt chills run down his spine and hoped it wasn't an omen of things to come.  
  



	10. Chapter 9 ~ Gaara, Shikamaru, Gaara

Gaara realized class was dismissed as he saw his fellow classmates leaving the classroom as he and Aizawa walked. 

“You did pretty well Gaara,” Aizawa said, turning to the small boy. “Although we will have to work on your physical capabilities, since you can’t completely rely on your sand. On top of that, just because you are being forced to be here doesn't mean that you are allowed to stop putting forth effort in the middle of my class." Aizawa stated irritably, Gaara just stood and listened, unfazed. Gaara sighed, earning him a very confused look out of Aizawa, who was not expecting such a sound to come out of the boy.  
  
"Shukaku was being annoying, I was done dealing with both of you." Gaara said casually. 

Aizawa just stared at the boy. His first instinct told him he should scold Gaara for being disrespectful, or tell the kid that he can’t get away with doing that, but he could tell Gaara was tired. He could only imagine how hard it was to have a constant voice speaking to you, telling you what you should do and trying to take control. It sounded worse than living with Yamada, but then again, Aizawa chose to live Yamada, and Gaara couldn’t say the same.

Aizawa decided to drop the topic and move on. "So kid, tomorrow you are meeting with the principal. He wants to talk with you since you did not come to the school through traditional means." He informed, "The principal is quite interestin-" 

Suddenly, he was cut off by a loud squeal. “Gaaarrrraaaa!” Temari’s voice echoed through the building as she rounded the corner into the classroom. Following behind her was the cat-eared boy, who showed more signs of exhaustion, though the same amount of excitement.

“How was your first day at school?” Kankuro asked, walking over to Gaara. He had originally planned on tackling him, but no longer had enough energy to do so. Gaara merely shrugged at the question, though his thoughts went to what Shukaku had told him. Gaara narrowed his eyes and tried pushing the thought away. He wouldn’t let the demon control his life. Temari and Kankuro noticed Gaara’s narrowed eyes. Kankuro grew slightly worried, but decided not to say anything.

“Everything okay Gaara? Did anyone hurt you? If they did I swear,” Temari warned. Gaara’s eyes went back to their near-blank state and he shook his head.

“No,” Gaara plainly stated. Despite this, Temari spun around to Aizawa. Temari then proceeded to put Aizawa through the third degree. 

“Did something happen to him? Were the kids nice enough? Nobody got hurt today did they? YOU didn’t do anything, right? Did anyone ask him a lot of personal questions?” Temari’s questions seemed like they would never end as her dangerous eyes told every intention she was planning on doing to anyone who so much as breathed on her baby brother. 

“No.” Aizawa said irritated, “Gaara is fine, we have to go to the staff room to find Yamada and I have to get my materials."

Despite being still worried, Temari decides to drop her concerns for now. They all then head out and down the hall to the staff room.

On their way there, they passed several classrooms, a computer lab, and a library. Gaara glanced through the library window with envy which did not go unnoticed by Temari. 

"Gaara, you didn't bring any of your books from our house, did you?" Temari assumed. Gaara shook his head no. "Aizawa, while you go to the staff room to pick up your materials, can we head into the library?" She asked. 

"Alright, but while you are in there, I suggest you should find your textbooks Gaara, from what I understand you are quite behind the other students thanks to your background." Aizawa gave in. At the word textbook, Gaara's eyes lit up ever so slightly. For most of his life books had been his only source of information, Temari had started to teach him to read, but he had to figure it out on his own once his father found out. This did not stop them from slipping him books whenever they got the chance though. He still doesn't understand why his siblings would give him anything. 

Temari gave a brilliant smile and grabbed Konkuro's arm forcibly dragging the protesting boy along, while Gaara followed behind. 

Kankuro really wanted to go to the staff room. In both of his years going to U.A. he had never gotten close to the room, no matter how hard he tried. Yet, there he was, the first day of his third year and he had been handed the opportunity on a silver plate. Temari just had to go and ruin everything for him. 

“Alright Gaara, why don’t you look around for some good books that you think you’d like while Kankuro and I check for the textbooks you’ll need and anything that we think you might like,” Temari suggested, continuing to drag a depressed Kankuro with her.

Gaara was wandering through the rows when he happened upon someone he recognized. He was surprised because he was sure everyone in his class had gone home by this point and curious as to why his classmate was still here. 

Keeping one eye on the boy down the aisle from him Gaara continued to look at the books. He found himself in the romance section, a place he never would have ended up in if he had been paying attention.

Little did Gaara know, the boy also was just wandering around the library and had happened to find himself in the romance section. The boy was in the library of his own free will, finding comfort in the isolation of the library, the old and new smelling tomes on the rough wooden shelves, and the quiet atmosphere avoiding something he knew was impossible to ignore. The boy finally noticed the small red head as their paths led them closer. The boy glanced over at the smaller boy, unable to look away. The smol bean felt the eyes of his stalker on him and turned, locking eyes with him. 

A sharp ringtone broke the boy's concentration as he blinked and full on sprinted out of the library, earning him angry shouts from the other patrons.

What was interesting was that both boys were thinking the same thing: he has strange eyes. 


	11. Chapter 10 ~ Gaara, Gaara, Lee

Gaara made his way to the front desk in the library, empty handed. Temari and Kankuro were arguing again, with a stack of books in between them.

“He doesn’t need that many books for one night, we take the textbooks and a few normal books and he can come back later. It's not like he isn't ever coming back here." Kankuro argued trying to take books off of the stack. Temari wasn’t having it.

"Well, Gaara needs options. He has never really had choices of what to read before, and do you know how fast our baby brother reads? We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t get bored with just this many." Temari shot back.

“Temari, I know you’re trying to look out for him, but take it easy. Let him settle in first before piling a bunch of books on him. Besides, half of these things aren’t even the genre he likes,” Kankuro tried. He knew Temari could be a handful, and when it came to their brother, there was almost no way to get her to budge.

“Well he can always try something new,” Temari defended, feeling slightly embarrassed. “And maybe a couple of these are for me,” she admitted. Kankuro let out a sigh. He never understood why his sister was so complicated.

“Then just say that next time!” Kankuro groaned, giving in. He finally acknowledges Gaara who had been boredly watching the two bicker. “So Gaara, did you pick out any?” Kankuro asked. Gaara just shook his head.

Temari frowns at this and turns to the person at the desk. "Alright, I guess we’ll just take these twelve books,” Temari told her fellow third year. General studies had a class you could take to run the library. 

The student raised his eyebrow, but gave an exasperated sigh. “Ok then, whose name is it going under?” Temari pulls out her library card.

"Mine, and the textbooks were issued for my brother, Kazekage Gaara." Temari informed. The boy clacks away at his computer to confirm the textbooks, then takes the card and scans it proceeding to check out the books. 

Kankuro then took the books as they left the library to meet back up with Aizawa and Yamada. Kankuro was booking it in the direction of the staff room, hoping that his wish to see it would come true. 

As they rounded a corner, Kankuro smashed into an unsuspecting Yamada, spilling the books to the floor bringing both Yamada and Aizawa with them as the two were holding hands at the time of the collision.

Kankuro dropped to his knees in despair, silently shaking his fists at the ceiling, engaging in an internal battle only he could hear. 

Yamada was very confused and concerned, Aizawa was experiencing extreme annoyance, Temari was shaking her head with disappointment, and Gaara stood impatiently. 

"It's alright Kankuro, we can just pick up the books, there was no harm done." Yamada reassured, totally misreading the situation. Aizawa sighed and started to grab some of the books.

"Come on, grab the books and let's go, it's already late and I want to sleep." Aizawa said, as he started walking away with Gaara and Temari following him. Kankuro silently promised himself he’d see the staff room one day, but picked himself up as he gathered the rest of the books and chased after the others.


	12. Chapter 11 ~ I'm a Jinchuriki

After arriving back at Aizawa and Yamada's house they deposited the books into Gaara's room. 

The twins went to their respective rooms to do homework, all the while Kankuro complained, "Who gives out homework on the first day of school?! Like that's illegal!" Aizawa just shook his head as he and Yamada made their way back downstairs. Gaara hesitated in his room before following the pair down the stairs. He heard the front door shut as he reached the kitchen. Present Mic was pulling out a huge black pot that looked like it could hide a body while he hummed.

"Oh, hey Gaara!" Present Mic said, noticing him. Gaara looked questionably at the pot, wondering just what he was doing with it. 

Present Mic tracked Gaara's gaze to the pot. "Oh! We are having stew tonight! Shota just went to go get some more beef and bullion!" Gaara had never met a person that put as many exclamation points in his speech than the man before him. 

Gaara saw carrots on the table with a cutting board and knife. Again Mic saw him looking. "Those are for the stew, gotta chop 'em up!" Mic looked at Gaara with curiosity, "Would you help me?"

Gaara shrugged, he did feel like doing something and felt uncomfortable just sitting in his room, and having to listen to his siblings bicker across the hall, so he might as well.

Gaara sat at the table and picked up the knife, pausing before pushing the knife into a carrot. 

With a snap, the two halves separated and flew in opposite directions before landing on the floor. 

Gaara stared at the knife, then to the carrot halves on the floor. Present Mic started laughing while Gaara just watched the knife that was still in his hand. 

Gaara grabbed another carrot and sand started to form around him. The sand suddenly headed towards the carrot at breakneck speed. 

“Woah, Whoah, WHoah!! No sand in my kitchen!” Yamada suddenly shouted, jumping towards the carrots. Gaara froze, sand just millimeters from the carrot. He was quite confused as to why Yamada would be so upset. Gaara sent him a puzzled look. Yamada let out a sigh. “Listen Gaara, I know you wanted to help, but I don’t think you should be cutting the carrots. At least not if you plan on using sand,” Yamada tried to put it lightly.

“Why? I have control over the sand and it would be more efficient than a knife,” Gaara tried pragmatically saying. Unfortunately, Yamada was not convinced.

“Well… see your sand has been a lot of places, and is made up of crushed rocks… so it isn’t very sanitary… like at all,” Yamada said. He found himself unable to be mad at the small bean. 

Gaara still didn't see the issue, seeing as how the sand would be in contact with the food for such a short time, and it would also be boiled, which would burn off them anyways. However, he could tell Yamada was not happy with his method, and seeing as how he wasn’t proficient with a knife, he decided to leave him alone. Yamada said nothing as Gaara walked off in the direction of his room. Yamada didn’t want to pressure Gaara when he already had stepped out of his comfort zone, so he let the boy go. 

Once Gaara had gotten back to his room he pulled the top textbook off the stack of books Temari had forced upon him earlier. The textbook's title was Earth Science, and featured an overdramatized picture of the planet. 

As Gaara cracked open the book and started reading, part of his consciousness started to think about the day's events. Gaara sighed with the thought of having to deal with his obnoxious classmates in the morning. This train of thought led him to remember the boy from the library. He had been acting very strangely and Gaara did not know how to feel about it. The boy had been staring at him with his strange two colored eyes, even when Gaara was not facing his direction. Shukaku would usually have said something at a time like this but he had been strangely silent since the incident with Aizawa. Gaara's head was churning with all these thoughts. 

After about thirty minutes, Aizawa came up the stairs. He had come home to Mustachio eating what looked like to be a half of a carrot with the other half lying on the opposite side of the kitchen. 

"Um… Hizashi?" Shota started. 

"Yeah love?" Hizashi asked while stirring his pot of vegetables.

"Why is there a carrot on the floor and why is Mustachio eating it?" Shota questioned back.

"OOOHHHH….. oops I forgot that was still there after the whole sand debacle." Hizashi remembered scratching the back of his head. Shota grabbed a new cutting board and knife while beginning to trim the beef he had bought.

"Sand what?" Shota inquired as he now pulled out a frying pan in order to brown the meat after he had trimmed it. 

"Well you see, Gaara had come down so I offered to let him cut the carrots. The force he exerted on the carrot caused it to fly apart, reminds me of a certain someone when he first started cooking," Hizashi explained eyeing Shota misheviviouly. "Well after that happened he decided to ditch the knife in favor of his sand, so… I told him… he couldn’t bring sand in… the… kitchen," Hizashi’s voice trailed off as he noticed Shota's disapproving look. “What? Sand and food don’t mix!” Hizashi defended. Shota just shook his head. 

After Shota finished browning the meat he came up behind Hisashi and put the meat into the pot. "You managed to turn a disaster like me into a somewhat successful cooking assistant, so why didn't you try to help him?" He asked into Hisashi's ear. 

"I didn't want to overstep his boundaries, I wasn't sure how far I could go." Hizashi answered, moving to grab the bullion in the grocery bag. 

"I understand that, he is very closed off, it will probably take a lot to break down those walls of his." Shota mused.

The stew was finally done after a while simmering in its pot. Shota kissed Hisashi's cheek. "I'm gonna go get the kids for dinner." He said walking away. 

When Aizawa walked into Gaara's room, he found him engrossed in a textbook and blinked in surprise. "Did you already read a quarter of that textbook?" Gaara looked up at Aizawa, slightly irked at the disturbance before glancing at his progress and giving a slight nod. 

Aizawa was quite surprised. That book was pretty advanced for someone with barely any education to be reading that fast. 

“Well, dinner is ready if you’re willing to part with the book for about an hour,” Aizawa said before heading to the next room where Temari was also reading. Temari almost jumped when she heard his light knocking.

Temari put a slip of paper in her book to mark her page and got up, opening the door.   
“Dinner is ready, go get Kankuro then come on down” Aizawa yawned. "Has Haara always been able to read really well?" He asked as an afterthought. 

"Yeah," Temari said inquisitively. "Gaara’s always been a fast learner, tearing through books and anything he is given. I think it’s because of how much he reads and gets practice since it’s all he does at night. Kankuro thinks he’s just a genius though, but you know Kankuro’s an imbecile. He does love a cactus,"

“HEY!” Cried Kankuro from the bathroom where he had overheard the conversation. "Number one, our brother IS a genius. Number two, I am NOT an imbecile, whatever that means… and number three, my cactus deserves all the love anyone could ever give it, okay!" 

The twins continued to bicker as Aizawa exited the room and went downstairs to eat.


	13. Chapter 12 ~ I live in the Sand

The next morning came sooner than Gaara had anticipated. The beginning of the night was a little rough due to the fact that he had to figure out how to keep Swirls satisfied while still reading some of his book to keep himself occupied. However, he ended up petting Swirls and occasionally tossing a toy for the cat, while using the sand to prop the book up and flip the pages. By the time Gaara had finished the book, Aizawa was in his room telling him breakfast was ready.

As he left his room he almost ran into Kankuro who was stumbling down the hallway yawning rubbing at his eyes. Temari was behind him with a sleepy expression on her face. 

"Good morning Gaara," Kankuro yawned out using the wall to keep himself upright. Gaara nodded in response, which he doubted Kankuro saw due to the fact that he was basically sleep walking. 

"What did you read last night, anything interesting?" Temari asked, being careful to stay out of Kankuro's path. At this point they had almost reached the kitchen.

"I read a textbook last night, one of the ones for class," Gaara responded, "the one on Earth Science." Aizawa spat the orange juice he had been drinking out at this. 

That textbook was supposed to cover material for a whole school year and Gaara had read it in one night. Aizawa supposed that just because he read the book, did not mean that he understood the entire thing.

Kankuro seemed to snap out of his drowsy state slightly and he wrinkled his nose. "Ew, I never even finished that one in an entire year. There were so many long, useless words," Kankuro groaned. Gaara simply shrugged.

"It wasn't that complex and was actually kind of interesting. I learned more about the atmosphere than anything else, but the most interesting was about sandstone. How a rock is weathered and eroded, creating sand, and from there the sediments can fall into a bowl-shaped basin and be compressed into stone," Gaara casually said, seeming more invested in the conversation than usual. Kankuro grew a mischievous smile, first nudging Temari.

"See, I told you he was a genius," Kankuro sneered, before turning his attention back to his brother. "You know Gaara, if you ever get bored, I have some Calculus textbooks you can-" Kankuro was cut off by a punch in his arm by Temari.

"Don't try to get out of doing your work! You should use Gaara as an example of what you should be doing and get things done on time... Though if you pay attention in class you wouldn't have to really even read the book," Temari retorted. Kankuro and Temari began bickering again, but Aizawa was further stunned.

Aizawa was watching this exchange with bewilderment. Although he had high hopes, he had been afraid that Gaara would not be able to catch up to the rest of his class, due to his lack of schooling, but if he could read this quickly and retain and understand the information, he could definitely catch up - possibly even surpass his class. Aizawa felt a flash of warmth run through him. He wondered if he was getting sick or just turning soft.

Aizawa suddenly realized something, or rather someone, was missing: Yamada. Aizawa quickly slipped away from the bickering siblings as he went upstairs to his room to find the yellow-haired man still asleep holding the black and white tuxedo cat. Aizawa felt the warm feeling again, which he always got while looking at Hizashi and realized that he was growing attached to the young bean downstairs. Aizawa sighed and went to wake up his husband. 

After eating breakfast and feeding the cats, everyone went back up to their rooms to get ready for the day. Gaara got dressed and grabbed his books and supplies. He didn't have a backpack so he used his sand to carry his things down the stairs. 

Upon seeing Gaara with his improvision, Yamada, made a mental note to buy the boy a backpack, having not realized that since Gaara had never been to school before, he never had a need to have a backpack before. Seeing as it was too late now, he decided not to worry about it till later. Temari and Kankuro saw no issue in it, having been used to Gaara usually carrying his things that way.

"Let's go then!" Yamada said enthusiastically clapping his hands together. They all got into Aizawa's car and headed to school. 


	14. Chapter 13 ~ Everybody Hated Me

Gaara sighed as he glided down the halls. Carrying both himself and his things with his sand. This was earning him quite a bit of looks as he traveled. 

"I thought you didn't want to stand out?" Shukaku said. Gaara stopped in the middle of the hallway as the cold voice took its normal place in his consciousness. Gaara could imagine Shukaku raising an eyebrow.

"And I thought I would finally have some peace and quiet." Gaara shot back, wondering why he had remained silent for so long. Shukaku had never gone that long without speaking before, even though most of the time it was some snarky comment.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, in fact you can't get rid of me at all." Shukaku said proudly.

"I bet I could find a way." Gaara responded, earning him a chuckle from the tanuki*. As he was speaking to Shukaku he had reached the classroom. Strangely, Gaara did affect him. He immediately went to his seat which was beside the boy he had seen at the library the other day. Of course, Gaara did not remember his name, nor if he had ever heard his name. 

Gaara opened the next textbook he planned on reading, which was Japanese History, and ignored his classmates happy drones. He felt eyes on him coming in the direction of the boy, but he ignored that too. Shukaku was also humming and it was harder to push away than the other distractions. 

"Class." Aizawa said in a form of greeting. "Ok everyone is here," he continued after a quick scan. "For the rest of homeroom, do individual study, I'm taking a nap." he yawned zipping up his yellow sleeping bag. "Oh, Kazekage, the Principal wants to see you, go to his office." He said as an afterthought. 

At this Gaara stood up while the students whispered and made strange noises. Gaara walked to the front of the class and out the door. As soon as the door shut, the caterpillar closed the eye he was keeping on the boy, leaving the rest of the class bewildered. 

"We don't even have homework yet, and we already are supposed to individually study?" a girl with pink hair complained to a yellow haired boy near her. 

"Yeah, it's pretty strange," he said eyeing the teacher, "but I am guessing we are going to have to get used to strange." 

The boy who sat next to Gaara just watched the door. He was quite mystified by the small redhead. He wondered why he was being called to the principal. On top of that, he wondered why he had been in the library past school hours the other day, and seemed to be carrying a lot of books. (Man Todoroki, stop being such a hypocritical stalker)

As Gaara walked down his classroom's hallway, he realized that he had no idea how to get to the principal's office and suddenly stopped.

"Wooooow, great job," Shukaku said sarcastically. "Now we're really lost."

"Shut up" Gaara said back, not realizing that he had said this out loud.

"Hey," a boy said, causing Gaara to jump slightly. He had been so caught up in arguing with Shukaku, he forgot he was still in a public place. Gaara turned around and saw a boy with indigo hair and dark purple eyes, with bags like Aizawa.

"Yes?" Gaara asked, confused as to what the boy might want. The other boy was quite confused as well. He wasn't sure whether he should be offended or concerned by the boy.

"Uh, you were the one to tell me to shut up... I was only wondering where you were headed." Gaara quickly realized what the boy was referring to, and Gaara internally glared at Shukaku. He also guessed that the boy had said something before Gaara had ended his most recent talk with Shukaku. 

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was talking out loud," Gaara spoke quietly. The purple haired boy gave another look over the redhead.

"Uh huh," he nodded. Just before he was about to turn away, he noticed the small boy's uniform. "Hey you're in the hero class, right?" he asked. Gaara didn't see how this was relevant, nor how the boy knew, but he nodded. The boy's posture changed slightly as he leaned back more. "What would someone from the hero course be doing in the General Studies hall?" he questioned. Gaara was now quite puzzled as he glanced around.

"I wasn't sure where I was going and I was also quite distracted." Gaara stated. The stranger gave him another weird look. He wasn't quite sure whether the boy was messing with him, or if he actually was lost. Looking at Gaara's calm expression, the boy from General Studies was not convinced.

"The hero classes are back in the opposite direction you came from and to the right," He said.

"Thanks but I just came from my classroom, I am actually looking for the Principal's office." Gaara explained. The purple haired boy again looked at Gaara strangely. He had thought students were given a map of the school, or at least knew the basics of their classes, lunchroom, and the principal's office. However, from Gaara's expression the purple haired boy could tell he wasn't joking or messing around.

"Well if you're looking for the principal's office you're in the wrong place. For that you'll want to go down this hallway the way you were going hang a left and continue until you come to where the main entrance is...'' halfway through trying to give the directions, the boy decided it'd be easier if he just showed him. "Actually, it'd be easier if I just show you," he said, walking down the hallway.  
  
Gaara was slightly thankful he didn't have to keep track of directions while Shukaku was humming or talking about random things just to annoy him. Gaara followed the boy as he led him through the halls. He paid as close attention as he could, so he would be able to make a mental map of the school for later.

"My name is Shinso by the way." Shinso said looking back at Gaara. 

"My name is Gaara." He said softly. 

"Gaara? That is a weird family name." Shinso stated. 

"It's not my family name, why would I use that?" Gaara asked in confusion. Now that he thought about it, Aizawa had called him by his last name earlier. 

Shinso was extremely confused at this point, how could the boy not know how people were addressed? He took a moment, debating whether he should even bother explaining it to the clearly clueless boy.

"When you first meet someone it's customary to introduce yourself by your last name, and you only use their first name when you are close enough and given permission," Shinso finally explained. 

Gaara nodded slightly, taking in the new information. He guessed that he did not know this because he was only ever around family.

"Call me Gaara anyway. It's the name I am used to." Gaara dismissed. 

"Okay then... anyway we are here." Shinso pointed at the door next to him. "Well... it was interesting, Gaara, I will probably not see you around, or at least you won't see me." He said while walking back the way they came. 

"That's what he thinks," Shukaku said with a challenge hidden in his voice. Gaara just shrugged and walked into the principal's office without bothering to knock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tanuki: Japanese raccoon dog


	15. Chapter 14 ~ They Didn't Understand

Gaara walked into the office. It was surprisingly very comfortable looking. It was also modern, with black, grey, and white decor. In the center of the room there was a desk with a very tall chair that contained a mouse-bear.

"Ah Gaara, you made it," the mouse-bear commented, smiling at Gaara's presence. Gaara gave only a slight nod of acknowledgement. "I am Nezu, the principal here at UA. As Aizawa told you, you will be taking a test today," Nezu continued.

Gaara remembered Aizawa saying that the principal wanted to meet with him but he didn't remember him mentioning a test, what... oh. When Aizawa was talking to him, his siblings had interrupted the conversation. Aizawa must have forgotten to inform him later on. Gaara decided to just roll with it, as he just wanted to get back to class as soon as he could, as to not miss as much.

Nezu then had Gaara sit down at a table in the office as he allowed Gaara to work on the test. It was only then when Gaara realized just how much he didn't know. The test was comprised of many questions of different subjects including math, English, Japanese, and science. He answered as much as he could, and guessed at the rest, informing Nezu when he finished.

"Thank you Gaara, I'm glad you are here. Is there anything you want to ask me?" Nezu smiled, taking the test.

Gaara shook his head no. "Well if you ever need anything, feel free to come to me. You can go now, your class should be headed to lunch right now, do you know how to get to the cafeteria?" Nezu asked.

Gaara shook his head no. " _Lame._ " Shukaku said.

"I'll have someone come to lead you then." Nezu offered. At this Gaara nodded in agreement, he did not want to get lost like last time and be stuck dealing with Shukaku's snide comments.

Nezu picked up the phone on his desk. The phone rang a couple times before it was picked up on the other end. "Sleeping on the job again, Aizawa?" Nezu asked. He listened before speaking again. "Do me a favor and send a student down to lead Gaara to the cafeteria. He doesn't know the way." Nezu hung up the phone. "Just sit tight for a moment." Nezu said motioning toward the chair that Gaara took his test in. Gaara sat down and waited, ignoring Shukaku's commentary about how he did on the test. After a couple of minutes the boy Gaara knew as Deku came in. "Ah, Midoriya," Nezu nodded towards the green bush.

"H-hi principal Nezu. I was told to come down here," the boy nervously said. Nezu let out an irritated sigh. Aizawa seemed to have neglected to tell the student why he was to come down.

"Well I was wondering if you could direct Gaara here to the cafeteria, for your lunch period. He is still not quite comfortable with the layout of the school," Nezu explained. Midoriya looked over at the red haired boy who was sitting in a chair just watching the conversation. Midoriya's face seemed to have lit up as he had been quite curious about the boy, but never had the chance to talk to him.

"Ok! Gaara-kun, you can follow me!" Midoriya said with a large smile. Gaara stood up and walked over to the other small boy. They both seemed to be about the same height, though with Midoriya's hair, he stood just slightly above Gaara. The two headed out of the office and walked in a silent manor for the first part as Midoriya worked up his nerves to ask the strange boy more about his quirk.

"So you control sand right, is that your quirk? I am sorry if I am totally wrong or something, I don't want to make assumptions, it's just I thought your quirk is cool and you must be pretty powerful, right? Did you get in the class through recommendation, I only ask because I don't remember seeing you at the exam and-" Midoriya noticed Gaara staring at him. "Oh, sorry I was rambling again wasn't I, it's a habit."

Gaara nodded while thinking. "I do control sand and I just took an exam." He replied softly. Midoriya's curiosity was not satisfied by Gaara's simple remark. He also found it strange how he would only now be taking an exam after school had started. It definitely was not the same exam that Midoriya had taken, but then what kind of exam would it be?

Despite Midoriya's curiosity, he also wasn't sure if he should continue questioning, seeing how Gaara seemed almost reluctant to talk. He did not want to risk damaging a possible future friendship this early on, but he really wanted to know. Countless theories ran through his mind as he walked with Gaara. He decided to stick with a safer question.

"Who is your favorite hero?" Midoriya asked. He figured this would be an easy enough question to answer.

Gaara shrugged, "I don't have one." Midoriya looked at him.

"That's okay, um, mine's All Might. I want to be a hero like him one day, why do you want to be a hero?" Midoriya asked fidgeting with his uniform.

Gaara looked at him strangely and stopped walking before answering. "I don't?" He said, causing Midoriya to stop as well.

"But you're in the hero course, aren't you? So you must have some reason for being there, something must be driving you to become more?" Midoriya asked shocked.

Gaara had never really thought about his future before, probably because he wouldn't have had one if his father had stayed alive. So it was that Gaara stood in the hallway, pondering the question that every normal highschool student regards with dread: What do I want? 

The two boys stood in the hallway, the clock ticking away, until ten minutes later when Gaara finally broke the silence.

"I think I should become a hero" Gaara said.

Midoriya stood dumbfounded. 'He thinks? He should? Why is he just figuring this out now anyways... what is going on?' He shook his head, understanding that the conversation was not going to go any further, and they continued walking to the cafeteria.


	16. Chapter 15 ~ My Sister Has A Great Big Fan

"Gaaaaarrraa!" Cried out a familiar voice as soon as the two boys entered the cafeteria. Temari frantically waved at the red haired boy, beckoning him. Temari had been anxiously watching the entrance for her brother's arrival.

Midoriya, who had been planning on inviting the quiet boy to eat with him, decided he already had a place to sit. The table Gaara was being summoned to was in the left corner of the cafeteria, the closest to the door Gaara entered.

"W-well I guess I'll see you after lunch," Midoriya waved as he went to join the short girl who was waving to him in a less frantic manor. Gaara sighed as he walked to the table. He immediately felt uncomfortable as he realized his siblings were sitting with three students he did not recognize. One had a strange look on his face with blonde hair. The other looked very restless and was sitting so he could see all the activity around him, the last was a bright faced girl that stood up as he reached the table.

"Hello Gaara, I've heard so much about you in the last couple days! We're your siblings' friends!" She said motioning to herself and the two boys at the table. Gaara glanced around distressed. He could already tell he wouldn't get along with the students that well and hoped he could sit by himself. Unfortunately, no other tables were empty, so he was stuck there, he also knew that Temari wouldn't give him up that easy, so it would be futile anyways. Gaara and his siblings sat down.  
"So Gaara, are you enjoying UA so far?" The boy with blonde hair and a wide smile asked. Gaara gave a slight shrug which was barely noticeable. Temari quickly noticed how Gaara seemed to have completely given up on the idea of conversing, so she took over, out of fear of him retreating further into himself.

"Don't mind him, Gaara usually doesn't like to talk much," Temari excused. Mirio, however, was persistent, and was going to get Gaara to open up to him, even if it took a while.

"Aw, so he and Tamaki can relate then?" Mirio questioned, to which Temari gave a small nod. Mirio nudged the blackhaired boy who jumped slightly. "Tamaki here is very quiet and doesn't really like to talk either," Mirio compared.

"Just because we both don't talk much doesn't mean we have the same reason." Tamaki remarked. "It's just hard to talk to people." As he said this he started turning around to face the wall behind him. Judging by the responses from the others, Gaara inferred that this was a common occurrence.

Gaara went and sat in the empty seat beside Tamaki, deciding that he is the most agreeable of the five. 

As he sat there, he could feel Temari's eyes boring into him. He stared right back at her. Temari was great at multitasking. She was eating her lunch, talking with her friends, and watching Gaara closer than a mother hawk watching her prey.

After about five minutes of this, Temari finally spoke up. "So, are you going to eat?" She said, raising her eyebrows questioningly. The entire table paused their conversation about the better colors for a hero costume to observe this new side of Temari. Well, everyone except Kankuro, who was also looking at Gaara with concern.

Now that he thought about it, he hasn't really seen Gaara eat that much. Back when dear old dad was around, he didn't let Gaara sit with them at meal times and Temari or Kankuro would have to bring him leftovers later on. 

Gaara shrugged. 

"I think you are going to be eating," Temari said in a threatening tone. She grabbed her unopened melon bread, slid over to Gaara's part of the table and put the bread down in front of Gaara in a way that was both menacing and tender.

After debating internally with himself, Gaara sighed and opened the bread. He was hungry; he just didn't really want to eat in front of this many people or eat as much as Temari wanted him to. He had been avoiding eating too much at the house where he was staying as well, just having enough to avoid suspicion and be polite.

The big three watched in fascination at Temari's actions. She usually was pretty laid back. Kankuro obviously wasn't surprised. He watched happily as Gaara took a bite of his bread, Gaara needed to gain as much strength as possible to keep up with his class.

The moment the bread touched Gaara's taste buds he immediately scrunched his face in revulsion. The bread was sweet, and Gaara did NOT like sweet foods. It took all Gaara had to swallow the bite. 

Temari was next to him the moment she saw his face. She ripped the bread out of his hands. "Oh I'm so sorry Gaara! Don't eat that! I know you don't like sweets, I just wanted you to eat something!" Temari worked fast to try and fix her mistake.

Temari grabbed Kankuro's rice ball just as he was going to devour it. The twins never ate anything with any sort of seafood because of Gaara's allergy so Temari knew it was safe, yet she still checked before she handed it to Gaara.

"HEY!!! I was gonna eat that..." Kankuro's voice trailed off as he watched Gaara slowly eat. Kankuro let out a sigh and looked down. He knew Gaara needed the food a lot more than he did. Even though he'd go hungry for the rest of the day, he would just have to deal. Temari gave no notice to her other brother as she eagerly watched Gaara slowly pick apart the rice ball.

However, once Gaara was eating, Temari handed her rejected melon bread to Kankuro as a peace offering.

Kankuro took it gladly, he liked melon bread better than rice balls anyways.

"So, how much younger is Gaara, and was he like, suddenly adopted or something, is that why you have never mentioned him before?" Nejiri inquired.

Temari flinched. She knew her blue haired friend meant well but that didn't stop the guilt that ran through Temari. Kankuro felt a similar flash before laughing.

"Gaara is three years younger than us but looks like he is six right? He is just so short!" Kankuro spouted, completely ignoring the other half of the question.

"No." Temari said, "Gaara isn't adopted, though the reason why you were unaware of his existence is kind of... complicated, it is also quite sensitive at the moment. Kankuro and I never intended to lie or lead you away from the truth..." Temari looked down. Kankuro gave her a comforting hand squeeze that went unnoticed by everyone.

"We understand, it's fine!" Mirio said joyfully, "We are here for you though, if you ever want to talk to us, that is what friends are for after all."

Gaara felt like an intruder just being at the table. Even with Shukaku talking to him, Gaara still felt out of place. Despite this, lunch seemed to fly by as the others at the table went back to their cheerful conversations. Well, everyone except for Tamaki who didn't add much to the conversations. Before anyone knew it, the bell had rung, and the lunchroom was emptying. It was now time for Gaara's hero class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> or anyone who doesn't know... cause it's kinda interesting...  
> Melon Bread: The shape and groves of the bread make it look like a type of melon and that is where it got its name. It supposedly tastes like cookies and buttery goodness and comes in many flavors. The cookie part is because the bread is covered in a thin layer of cookie.


	17. Chapter 16 ~ My Brother Looks Like A Cat

The circle of friends stood up and Gaara quickly followed "Have fun in class Gaara," Temari said with a smile. Gaara nodded, they walked away all saying it was nice to meet him. 

Gaara had a slight problem. For the second time today, he had no idea where he was supposed to be going. He sighed, searching the crowd for someone in his class so he could follow them. He first tried to find the small bush, but realized the boy was too short to spot from where he was. So, he made a small eye out of sand, compressing it and having it indiscreetly float up near the ceiling. Then he put his hand over one of his eyes, as he looked through the eye made of sand. He still could not find Midoryia, but he did spot another familiar face, or his hair anyway. It was the boy from the library with the strange colored eyes and hair. Gaara started to walk in the boy's direction, careful not to lose him and subsequently, his GPS.

Gaara successfully followed the boy out of the lunchroom and through the halls, but as the boy opened a door he realized that he was not headed back to the classroom. The multicolored boy had led Gaara to the bathroom. Exasperated, Gaara turned on his heel and waited out of sight for the boy to come out, since he did not recognize anyone else around the bathroom. 

Meanwhile in the 1-A classroom.... Midoriya was sitting in his seat talking to Uraraka when he suddenly felt guilty for an unknown reason. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he forgot something that he was going to do.

Only a minute had passed while Gaara was waiting for his unknowing guide when the subject casually walked out. Gaara didn't notice at first because he was wrapped up in a 'conversation' with Shukaku.

" _Wow, you really have been observant lately,_ " Shukaku remarked, " _told you being around people was a bad idea._ "

" _It's a big building and I don't have it memorized just yet, it has nothing to do with people._ " Gaara said back annoyed

" _You're distracted by the others, you are growing weaker and your skills are slipping._ " Shukaku said.

"Hey." Gaara snapped out of his trance and saw the boy he was waiting for standing in front of him.

" _See what I mean, you're..._ " Shukaku started trying to prove his point but he was interrupted.

"Your name is Kazekage, right?" the boy asked.

"Gaara. My name is Gaara." he replied with irritation. This now was the third person that had referred to him by that name. 

"Ok then, Gaara, what are you doing just standing here? Are you lost or something?" the oblivious boy inquired.

Shukaku could be heard scoffing in Gaara's head. " _Lost all right, lost in..._ "

"I was following you." Gaara interrupted bluntly, "I needed to get to class."

The boy blinked. "I guess I can understand, but why didn't you ask for directions, it would have been faster," he looked up at the clock, "Well, we better get to class now, before we are late."

The pair headed to their classroom, just sitting in their seats as the over-sized classroom door burst open.

"I am here, coming through the door like a hero!" said the overly buff man as he dramatically walked into the room.

' _Great... him again.'_ Gaara thought sarcastically.

"Welcome to the most important class at UA High! Think of it as heroing 101. Here you will learn the basics of being a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good," All Might explained before pulling out a card with the word 'BATTLE' on it. "Let's get into it! Today's lesson we'll pull no punches!" All Might announced.

"Fight training," The yellow haired one with anger issues eagerly stated.

"Real combat?" the green bush questioned, quite worried.

"But one of the keys of being a real hero is... looking good!" All Might said, pointing towards scores which were coming out of the wall. "These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms, and the requests you sent in before school started!" he added. Everyone cheered for their hero costumes, but Gaara sat there, knowing he would not have one, not that he cared. "Get yourselves suited up and then meet me at training ground beta!" Everyone headed off to the restrooms to change, but All Might looked at the small red haired boy. "Ah, young Kazekage, how are you doing?" All Might asked, walking with the small boy.

"Fine," Gaara replied plainly.

"We don't have a costume for you yet, but if you get an idea we can have it sent in. For now you'll have to wear your gym uniform," All Might informed. Gaara gave a small nod, having no clue what he wanted for a hero costume.

"Would I still be able to wear my gourd?" Gaara suddenly asked. All Might gave the boy a strange look, slightly confused as to why he would want a gourd but gave a nod.

"Sure, just make sure to add it to your hero costume when you make one, but I'll allow you to wear it for the activity," All Might concluded. Gaara nodded slightly. Then, sand began swirling around Gaara's back, and seemed to have come from the directions of the lockers, as a large sandy gourd manifested on Gaara's back. All Might was very surprised by this happening.

"Okay then, let's head out to the training ground." All Might said in confusion. He had a feeling that this would be a common theme.


	18. Chapter 17 ~ And Now Listen Little Child

After the pair got to the area All Might pulled out a box from somewhere that appeared to have papers in it. Gaara did not question it but looked around at his surroundings instead. For the most part, the training area just looked like an urban area. There were a lot of buildings, roads, and houses from what Gaara could see. Of course, there was nobody else there and the whole place was surrounded by a tall wall.

His fellow classmates started to make their way toward them in their hero uniforms. Gaara sighed and sat on the concrete and watched as they came ever closer.

Once they reached him, he could hear their pointless conversations about their costumes and inspiration. Gaara scanned the group. The green bush had a very suspiciously familiar looking costume that kind of made him look like a green rabbit. The interesting boy had covered up his left side with ice, which to Gaara looked very uncomfortable.

He had been caught up in his thoughts about the ice on the boy's costume so he did not notice the small bush walking up to him. 

Midoriya smiled his bright smile and gave Gaara a confused look. "You don't have a hero's costume? That's..." he trailed off remembering their strange conversation earlier. "Nevermind." He finished looking up at Uraraka, who was headed their way.

Midoriya looked like he was going to say something more, but just as he opened his mouth All Might started talking.

"Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training!" All Might began.

"Sir," a boy in a white engine-like costume interrupted, raising his hand. "This is the fake city from our entrance exam, does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

"Not quite. I'm going to move you two steps ahead. Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside; however, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evil-doers take place indoors. Think about it! Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs: truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows. For this training exercise, an apartment building is the battlefield! Now remember you can't just punch a robot this time, you're dealing with actual people now," All Might explained. This sparked many questions among the students.

" _Oooh~ We get to fight other people... This will allow us to truly shine. You better not go weak like the last trial we did,_ " Shukaku said excitedly. Gaara couldn't help but feel bored though. He felt the whole thing was a waste of time. He felt he could wipe the floor against any of them, only having to try on a couple, but still able to take them down. Despite this, Gaara also felt the slight excitement Shukaku did, and he also felt it could be a time for him to see if there was anyone in the class he should be more worried about.

"Listen up," All Might called everyone's attention back while pulling out a small book. "The situation is this: the villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try and foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evil-doers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes. Time is limited and we'll choose teams by drawing lots!" All Might announced while pulling out an orange box.

"Isn't there a better way?" asked Iida.

"Think about it! Pro's often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason we're seeing that here!" Midoriya explained.

"Yes I see. Life is a random series of events. Excuse my rudeness!" The engine-themed boy bowed.

"No sweat! Let's draw!" All Might ordered. So all the students went up and began drawing out their letters. Gaara drew the letter 'C' and noticed some girl with black hair drew the same.

Gaara walked over to the girl. He wasn't sure what her name or quirk was but didn't really care.

"Hi, so you're Kazekage, correct?" the girl asked. Gaara felt slight irritation at that name, and wondered how often he'd have to correct people on that.

"Actually, my name's Gaara," he said in his hoarse voice, preventing her from continuing her introduction. Despite knowing his first name was Gaara, the girl still found it odd that he would be so adamant on her using that name. She was also taught that you only use someone's first name when you are close.

"Oh, my apologies, I'll try not to make that mistake again. Anyways, you can call me Momo, that is what most people call me. I can create anything I can understand, so we can figure out how to use that to our advantage. With your quirk too, I think we are pretty well off. I guess we will have to wait to strategize till we know just what it is we are doing." Momo said.

Gaara gave a nod while sighing internally. He predicted that by the end of the day he would have a horrible headache.


	19. Chapter 18 ~ Or I'll Squash You Flat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We took a few liberties with the plot, cause fanfiction. 

The pairs were all assigned to be villains and heroes. Gaara and Momo were villains. All Might put the villain's letters in one box and the hero's in another and drew one letter from each box to determine who would be fighting whom. 

Gaara only listened for his and Momo's letter to be called and ignored everything else. 

"The villains will be C and the heros are G," All Might declared, already reaching for new letters. Gaara did not know who was on team G so he looked at Momo to try and see who she was looking at. Momo's gaze was locked on a weird yellow haired kid and a girl with navy blue hair and cords coming from her ears. Gaara studied the pair as All Might continued with the directions and the first group was sent off while everyone else headed to an observation room.

The first group was the small bush and his bubbly friend as heros against the angry yellow pomeranian and the overbearing engine boy.

The villains were sent in ahead if time and it didn't look like they were getting along. Gaara was vaguely interested in Midoriya. The strange but powerful aura around the boy hasn't gone away, despite the boy not showing any powerful qualities. So, Gaara did his best to watch the battle. Despite the promise of something interesting, he found most of it boring. While the short girl and turbo boy were off doing their own things, the bush and pomeranian played a game of cat and mouse for too long.

" _Why are you watching this? It's so boring..._ " Shukaku whined as Gaara stared at the display. Gaara wanted to just ignore the raccoon, however he had to admit he expected more. While the blonde haired explosive boy was at the top of the class(for now, *cough cough*), he seemed quite impulsive, and short-fused. The freckled green haired bush also showed some promise, however he was just running, and from what Gaara could tell, his Quirk physically hurt him.

Just as Gaara was about to write off the battle completely, Midoriya is cornered and is forced to come face to face with his enemy.

Midoriya and Bakugou both move to punch each other. Several of the students cry out and call for the battle to stop. Gaara notices that the All Might seems to be having an internal battle. 

Just as All Might was going to tell them to stop, the force of Midoriya's sudden upward punch destroys many floors above them. Uraraka uses the debris to secure the weapon.

As he was watching, Gaara realized that some of what just occurred had to be planned, and Midoriya may not have been cornered after all. He also has some pretty impressive amounts of power, however the boy is now out cold. Gaara shakes his head as the boy is taken away.

The remaining teammates come to the observation room. All Might starts to ask questions about the battle and Gaara just tunes them all out. 

The next group is a bird-like person and a frog-like person against a red rock guy and a weird black haired boy. As they fought, Gaara noticed that the bird boy's quirk was similar to Shukaku in a way. Their battle ended quickly with the bird and frog team as the victors.

Shukaku seemed intrigued although irked by the quirk of the bird boy. Shukaku would never admit it, but he was somewhat jealous. Gaara did whatever he could to keep Shukaku confined within him while the bird boy's shadow appeared to have much more freedom than him.

The battles went on but Gaara did not see anyone worth being weary of. As he was thinking, the heros for the next group just entered the building. It was the bathroom boy, Todoroki. Gaara feigned disinterest as he prepared for another drawn out battle. Instead, the battle was over almost as quickly as it started, as the whole building suddenly froze.

Gaara's tired eyes widened with interest as the boy made his way back to the room. Gaara was enlivened that there was someone who possessed such strength in his class.

" _Maybe now this won't be so boring,_ " Gaara thought to himself.

" _Nah, seems pretty weak. We could take him,_ " A desperate-for-attention Shukaku said, wanting some action. 

"Okay!! C and G, you're up! Get into position villains and then we will start." All Might announced. Gaara and Momo went into the building, heading up to the floor where their "bomb" would be.

"We should try and move this to a more compact location, since the quirks of the two we are fighting seem to be close range only..." Momo trailed off as Gaara stared dismissively at her sand beginning to swirl around him.

"Just stay here." Gaara said. The amount of sand coming from the surrounding area and the gourd on the boy's back seemed impossible. The hero team was released and Gaara's cold teal eyes watched in expectation. "Try not to be caught up in the sand."


	20. Chapter 19 ~ Did You Ever See A Gaara

The heroes were creeping through the hallways, when Jiro came to a sudden halt. Kaminari nearly ran into her, and watched confuzzled as she crouched down and plugged an earphone into the wall.

"Uh... what are you doing?" The blonde questioned.

"Listening," Jiro dismissively responded. Her face twisted in concentration as a distant rumbling came from the top floor. She removed the jack as she and Kaminari looked up.

"What is that?" Kaminari asked. Jiro sent him a quick glare, irritated by how useless he was being. Just before she was about to say something, a tidal wave of sand flooded the area. The sand was clearly being controlled as it hardened around the two heroes, locking them in place.

The two heroes immediately began to struggle against the sand, Kaminari tried to use his quirk to shock the sand, but it did nothing.

Jiro scoffed and rolled her eyes, and sent out a wave of sound, which was much more effective and she broke free for a second until even more sand took its place.

After a few minutes of struggling All Might's voice rang out, "The Villains are victorious!!" The sand suddenly retracted and went back to where it came from, which Jiro assumed was the short red haired kid.

Meanwhile, Momo was just staring at Gaara, taken aback by what was happening. When All Might said they had won, she couldn't believe it, she had done nothing. Gaara started walking back toward the observation room and Momo followed feeling flabbergasted and frustrated.

"Gaara, what did you do?" Momo asked inquisitively.

"I achieved the goal in the most efficient way possible." Gaara said plainly.

"You did much better this time than that whole mess yesterday, although we could have had much more fun, " Shukaku mocked.

"I'm assuming you used the sand to restrain the 'heroes'?" Gaara nodded and glanced at her while they were walking. "I agree that it was a very great use of time and your quirk, but next time you work with someone, inform them of your plan, we were supposed to be a team after all." Gaara just looked at her in confusion.

" _You have been confused an awful lot lately_ ," Shukaku said exasperated, "Get with the program."

Ignoring Shukaku like normal he gave Momo a slight confused nod.

Momo had a feeling that Gaara has not had very much social interaction and has underdeveloped people skills so she decided not to continue scolding the small boy, and so the two walked in silence, before entering an equally silent room.

"Well, that was fast," a boy with spiky red hair spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Um... yes! Great job... to both teams!" All Might continued, "Although on the losing team, Jiro is the MVP of this group! Can anyone tell me why?"

Gaara was seriously getting annoyed with the increasing number of people in his life that spoke loudly with visible punctuation.

"Jiro was the only one to actually start making an effort to like, plan... or something..." A pink alien girl said.

"Correct! Although Kazekage was very successful with his technique, he made no real move to talk to Momo about how they were going to handle the situation, which could end up being very dangerous in a real raid. You want to at least try and be on the same page as the other heroes you are around, if there are any, before just rushing into an unknown situation and landing yourself into a mess." All Might criticized constructively.

The last few groups went and Gaara barely paid attention. Shukaku, however, was very attentive but only so he could make snarky comments. Gaara sighed and rubbed his temples. Little did he know that another person wasn't paying attention to the battles either.

Todoroki watched the smol bean with his heterochromic eyes. He was trying to read Gaara but couldn't quite piece together a cohesive profile.

The class was dismissed after the last group was evaluated and they all went to change into their regular uniforms.

Gaara followed the boys into a room that was small and filled with lockers and open boxes. Gaara headed over to a corner where he had stashed his uniform. Of course when he had changed in here there had been no one in the room. 

Gaara felt uncomfortable changing in front of people so he erected a sand half circle in the corner of the room, blocking him from anyone that may HAPPEN to look over at him. (*cough cough* Todoroki the stalker *cough cough*)

As he did this he could hear people exclaiming in surprise at the sudden wall that appeared. After he was done changing, Gaara had the sand go back to be the gourd on his back. As the wall disappeared Gaara saw all of the boys in the room staring at him. 

" _Gaara. The true stealth master_." Shukaku said, and Gaara sighed for the thousandth time today and walked out of the locker room.


	21. Chapter 20 ~ Touch A Gaara

The trial had taken the rest of the school day so when everyone got back into the 1A classroom a yellow caterpillar spoke up with a yawn from the ground of the closet doorway. Aizawa had been in the closest sleeping since he got done teaching his last class over an hour ago. He had come back to his home room class and decided that his class is so loud, they will wake him up if they get done with All Might's lesson. 

"Class is dismissed. Go home, and don't forget to do your homework or whatever." That being said he rolled back into the closet shutting the door behind him. 

Gaara sat at his desk not knowing what to do as everyone left since he had to go home with Aizawa. Twenty minutes go by and Gaara has since pulled out a textbook and started where he had left off. He needed to catch up with the rest of the class, the test he took earlier that day proved that.

All of a sudden, Yamada bursts into the classroom, with a wide smile that becomes a sigh as he looks around not seeing Shota. He walks over to the closet door and opens it, revealing Shota. Judging by how Yamada immediately walked to the closet, Gaara inferred that this was not the first time Aizawa had suddenly gone missing.

Yamada picked up the caterpillar and gently carried him bridal-style out of the closet. "Hey Gaara!" Yamada said with a lot less volume than usual, "How was your day?"

Gaara shrugged and started packing up his stuff, assuming that they were going to be leaving now. 

"Oh, Gaara, we are going to go to Ne... Principal Nezu's office to discuss some things." Gaara stopped putting the book into his bag and stared at Yamada. Yamada just started walking out of the classroom, headed towards the office. 

On the way there, they ran into Temari, Kankuro, and their three friends. The halls were empty except for them, seeing as no one in their right mind would stay after school when it ended, there were some support students in their classrooms, however. 

"GAARA!" Temari squealed running forward to give Gaara a hug, only to be stopped in her tracks by sand holding down her feet. "How was school?! I heard you did an activity!" Temari said unaffected by the sand.

Gaara sighed, this girl never seemed to give up asking him questions for some reason. "I spent most of the day in the Principal's office and the exercise in class was easy." 

"Yeah, I heard ya smoked 'em," Kankuro said with a smile, walking up with their friends. Gaara gave a small shrug. He didn't really see what he did as anything special.

"Hold up," Nejire said, interrupting the siblings' talk, "It is your first day of school and you already landed yourself in so much trouble that you spent half the day in the Principal's office?"

"He had to take a test since he didn't take the entrance exam." Kankuro said. Before the girl could ask any more questions about the subject Yamada interrupted them. 

"Come along kids, we need to get to the Principal's office so we can hurry home," Yamada rushed. Temari raised an eyebrow, confused as to why he would be in such a hurry.

"Why the rush?" Temari asked. Yamada gave a smile, causing Aizawa to sigh, knowing what he was planning. Yamada slinked up to Temari and whispered something into her ear, causing her face to light up. Temari then asked something in return in which Yamada nodded. She then turned over to her friends and whispered in their ears. Kankuro looked between the five of them distraught.

"Uhh, can I know what's going on?" Kankuro eagerly asked. Temari and Yamada exchanged glances before frowning and shaking their heads.

"Sorry Cat-face, you'll just have to wait and see," Temari stated smugly. Kankuro looked very disappointed but not surprised. No one ever told him anything.

"Principal Nezu is probably waiting for us," Yamada desperately pointed out and got them all to continue to their original goal, all the while Aizawa was still somehow asleep in Yamada's arms. No one in the group dared question why he was asleep, they all knew his tendencies to nap whenever and wherever possible. The group lightly chattered and Temari also gave a bare bones explanation as to why Gaara had to take a test in Nezu's office today.

Once they reached his office, Yamada turned toward his followers, "Wait here," he said pointedly looking at Temari. She started to protest but Kankuro shut her up with a jab to her ribs, which provoked an immediate response from Temari. 

Yamada left the squabbling siblings and their friends to sort it out and went into the mouse-bear's office.

The Principal was sitting professionally at his desk, tea in hand as the group walked in. "Sit, sit," Nezu said motioning toward the three comfy white chairs in front of him. Last time Gaara had been in the office there had only been one charcoal grey chair and it was farther back from the desk. Gaara began to wonder how many times the Principal changed his office around.

Yamada did not hesitate to sit in the leftmost chair, setting Aizawa down in the chair next to him. Yamada then proceeded to poke Aizawa's face to get him to wake up. Somehow this worked and within three seconds, Aizawa was yawning and looking around to see where he was. Gaara really wanted to know how he did not wake up beforehand if a few pokes were enough to get Aizawa up. Gaara shook his head and sat in the last chair.

"Well," Nezu said shuffling papers in front of him, "You have a lot to catch up on, Gaara, but I am sure you already know this. Despite this, I noticed your score on the science portion was exceptionally higher than your other scores. Is science your favorite subject?"

Gaara shrugged, "It's not something I particularly care about. I did read the required science book last night, that may have something to do with it." Gaara responded. Nezu set his tea down in intrigue. 

"You read the entire textbook last night?" Nezu asked. Gaara nodded. "Is this something you do often, reading I mean?"

"I've never had a lot to do at night so my sister started to teach me to read before our dad found out. Seeing reading as a way to pass the time, I took it from there and taught myself as much as I could. My siblings saw this and let me read their textbooks and any other book they could find for me. Of course, it would never be enough because I would read it quickly." Gaara explained.

"Ah," Nezu nodded. "And so you only read the book once to know all of that information?" Nezu asked, still intrigued at how the boy could have memorized the book in one night.

"Well Temari has told me I have photographic memory, so she explained that for me to re-read a book would be a waste of time when I could be reading something new," Gaara added, annoyed because of the question.

Nezu smiled creepily, "Well then I am sure you will have no problem catching up to the rest of your class. You have all of the required texts, correct?"

Gaara nodded suddenly remembering his library experience yesterday. "Temari took me to the library yesterday to pick them up, she used some sort of account to check out other books too, does everyone have one of those?" Gaara inquired.

"Yes actually. In fact, we had you entered in but it takes a few days before the old computers in the library register you. I don't think you'll be able to access your account until tomorrow, but I'll write down your information so you can access the library without having to come here first," Nezu explained while clicking a pen and writing on one of his sticky notes. He then gave the sticky note to Gaara who gave a small nod. "Well unless there is anything else you need, I think we are done here. I hope you enjoy your time," Nezu said with a nod of his own. Yamada was the first to pop up as three left the office.

"Alright listeners! Let's head home!" Present Mic exclaimed. Mirio nodded and waved at the twins.

"We'll see you guys later," he said before turning and going, the other two friends following. With that, the siblings and the couple went home, and were greeted by their two cats. The twins went to their room to change out of their uniforms while Gaara hung back to pet the cats.

"Go get changed Gaara," Aizawa said, "Were going out so you don't need to wear your uniform." 


	22. Chapter 21 ~ On the Gaara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! We are using U.S. dollars cause we can, just so you know. Hope you enjoy!

Gaara came out of his room in a cotton blue shirt and khaki shorts that Temari had found in Kankuro’s old clothes when they were packing at their old house. Gaara did not have many outfits because his father did not buy him anything at all, what he did have was given to him by his siblings, like the books.

Temari frowned at the ill-fitting clothes and forced Kankuro down the stairs. “Come on, Gaara!” Yamada eagerly called.

“Soooo… where might we be going?” Kankuro asked, hoping they might have forgotten about the whole ‘not telling him’ thing. Temari gave him a sideways glance, shaking her head.

“Just wait, we’ll be there shortly,” Temari stated. She was finding the secrecy to be quite fun. Since she knew Gaara wouldn’t be that happy, and she figured Aizawa already knew where they were going the only one she could have actual fun with happened to be Kankuro.

“What are you doing?” Aizawa asked as they went outside the house and saw Yamada getting into the driver’s seat of the car.

“I’m driving…” Yamada looked at Shota with puppy dog eyes, *critical hit*

“Fine.” Aizawa sighed, moving to get into the passenger side until a voice rang out.

“I call shotgun!” Kankuro called out.

“Nope.” Aizawa said defiantly, lifting him by the scruff of his neck, and setting him in front of the rear door before sliding into the passenger seat.

On the way there, Kankuro kept making unhappy noises and Gaara, who was in the back of the family sized Subaru, was staring forward with a bored expression. 

Yamada, when he and Shota had gotten married, insisted on a family vehicle because he wanted a lot of kids. Aizawa did not care what kind of car they had, just that they had one, cause he did NOT want to ride the subway every morning to work with annoying people.

Temari was happily humming a joyful tune as they traveled down the road. 

They arrived in a huge parking lot about thirty minutes later. The place was fairly busy but wasn’t crowded. They all filed out of the car and looked up at the large sign. ‘Ewoks Shopping Plaza’ it read. Gaara looked at Aizawa confused.

"Since you listeners will be staying at our house for a while, it seems only right to do some celebratory shopping! Plus, Gaara you really need some things." Yamada piped in.

Gaara was confused again. He felt like he didn't really need anything in particular. Temari started to bounce ahead towards the mall, attempting to grab Gaara's hand and drag him along with her. She was half successful. Gaara avoided the hand, but he did follow her where she was leading him, and so did the rest of the group. 

"So this was the big secret?!" The fact suddenly sunk in for Kankuro. "This shouldn't have been a secret, it's not l…." Temari had relinquished her position in the front to drop kick Kankuro, then skipped back to the front of the pack again.

They finally reached the cafeteria of the mall, where Temari led them to a taco store where the twins’ three friends from school were sitting at a table.

Nejire and Miro waved their hands greeting them and beckoning them over while Tamaki had his head down feeling very forlorn to be there.

"So what’s our first plan of action?" Nejire eagerly asked. She was nearly as excited about the whole thing as Temari.

“Well, we can hang out a bit later, but our first order of business is getting Gaara some clothes,” Temari’s eyes drifted towards Kankuro and Tamaki, “But I don’t think you would enjoy coming along,” she said. A strange smile spread across Nejire’s face as she looked at Mirio and Tamaki, before waving her hand dismissively.

“Oh don’t worry about them, they can go off and do guy stuff and we can go shopping for clothes!” Nejire exclaimed, getting ready to drag Temari.

“Hold on girls, we have to ensure you can all pay for things,” Yamada began, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his leather wallet. Ignoring Aizawa’s alarmed expression, Yamada pulled out his black leather wallet and started pulling out twenty dollar bills and Aizawa's eyes just kept getting wider and wider.

"Um…" Aizawa started to say. Yamada silenced him with a glare that said: We will have a discussion about this. Later.

Yamada handed Kankuro one hundred dollars. Kankuro's eyes widened. He had never been given that much money before. Blinking, he managed to stutter out a thank you after Yamada confirmed he meant to give him that amount. Kankuro and Mirio practically carrying Tamaki went off on their own. Nejire and Temari could be heard fangirling and taking pictures, while the others just stood there confused but not asking.

The group headed off in the opposite direction being led by the two girls and Yamada. "Gaara needs basic things as well as a wardrobe, so let's find some clothes for him first." Temari planned.

"Sounds great! How about that store over there?" Nejire pointed out a large clothing retailer named Threads and Stuff.

"Looks great to me!" Yamada exclaimed, heading into the store.

Gaara sat on a bench with Aizawa while the other three went off grabbing hangers and anything else they could get their hands on. Soon enough, Gaara was involuntarily shoved into a changing room and handed a pile of things to try. There was a lot of variety. From t-shirts, dress shirts, jeans, shorts, and everything in between it was all there in every color you possibly could imagine.

" _This is stupid. Why are you letting them make you do this stuff_?" Shukaku grumbled. Despite not wanting to talk the tanuki, Gaara found it more enjoyable than paying attention to what the girls were doing.

“ _The sooner I let them, the quicker they’ll be done and I can get back to studying,_ ” Gaara replied. He grumbled for himself as he had to go back into the changing room.

“ _I still don’t get why you have to let them do it at all. It’s humiliating,_ ” Shukaku added quietly. He left a moment before speaking again. _“Wait… you have to study?”_ Gaara gave a mental sigh.

“ _Yes. I am quite behind in my studies and need to catch up,”_ Gaara plainly explained, slipping on the black long sleeved shirt. Gaara glanced in the mirror to see the pattern of an orange, nine tailed fox on it. Surprisingly, Gaara actually didn’t mind the shirt.

_“I hate it. You shouldn’t wear it,”_ Shukaku said quickly. While it was clear Shukaku did not enjoy trying on clothes, he seemed to show particular distaste for that specific one. Gaara rolled his eyes and stepped out, showing the group who waited for him.

“That. Is. Amazing!” Nejire squealed. She found she quite enjoyed this.

“That was your choice, right Yamada? You sure have a gift!” Temari complimented before smiling towards the sleepy Aizawa. “You should really let him pick out your clothes, Aizawa !” Temari smiled as Aizawa sighed and looked away. He always thought to get whatever was the most practical, and never could understand how some people got so carried away with everything. It was just a t-shirt.

Gaara tried on the rest of the clothes brought to him and his audience picked out a few of their favorites in every category. 

Aizawa sighed as Yamada walked up to the counter with all of the clothes and turned to leave the store to wait outside. Gaara followed after him.

They sat in silence before Aizawa turned to him hesitantly, "It has only been two days since you have been living with us, but are you settling in alright?"

Gaara glanced at Aizawa before looking down with a nod. "It is definitely different than what I am used to." Gaara paused before continuing, his voice softer. “But I am beginning to think it is a good different.”

The others came out of the store, bags in hand and they continued on their way, occasionally stopping to buy things like pillows, blankets, a backpack, and other things for Gaara and a few things Yamada insisted Temari get for herself.

Aizawa watched with a soft smile. He was also beginning to think it was a good different for himself as well.


	23. Chapter 22 ~ Gaara's Gaara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, we would love to read any comments that are left!!
> 
> I think this is the shortest chapter... I don't remember what happened to us that day...

The group reunited with the boys that had gone a separate way. Miro was now fully carrying a very socially exhausted Tamiki, his head resting against Mirio's shoulder, which caused more fangirling. Kankuro was carrying the bags and had a content smile on his face. Yamada and Aizawa shared a knowing glance looking at the group. 

Yamada clapped his hands together, "Now, let's all go out to eat!" Aizawa looked at Yamada in annoyance. He just wanted to go home and go to sleep. 

"I'm going to take Tamaki to his house, I think he has had enough for one day. So sorry, I won't be joining you!" Mirio said. Tamaki buried his head further into Mirio's shoulder and put up a hand to show goodbye. 

"Bye you two! See you tomorrow!" Temari said with a wink in Mirio's direction. Nejire was laughing as the pair walked away. 

"I'm assuming you're coming with us then, Nejire?" Aizawa asked dejectedly. 

"If that is alright with you, but if it is not, I am going to tag along anyways." She said bluntly. 

"Of course it is fine! The more the merrier!" Yamada cheered. There were two people there who did not agree with this statement. 

Aizawa sighed and followed Yamada, the twins, and Nejire to the car, while Gaara trailed behind. Aizawa knew that once Yamada had decided on something it was no use trying to change his mind and he was too tired anyways. Gaara wanted to go home where it would be quieter and he could do what he wanted. 


	24. Chapter 23 ~ Tastes of Gaara

“So, where to, listeners?” Yamada asked while starting the car. This unleashed something he was not expecting.

“Let’s go to I Don’t Care!” Shouted out Neijire.

“No, I think we should go to Whatever You Want,” interjected Temari.

“Yuck!” Cried Kankuro, who began to join in, sparking an argument which consisted of two things: where to go, and who could be the loudest. Aizawa let out another, more exasperated, sigh as he had assumed this type of thing would happen. He couldn’t care less at the moment, as he was beginning to drift off to sleep. Gaara, on the other hand, was not happy with the noise. He felt overwhelmed by all of the noise, and his breathing began to quicken.

“ _Make it stop_!” He mentally cried out, gripping his head.

“ _Ugh! Humans are so annoying_!” Shukaku agreed. Sand began creeping up and around Gaara. Surprisingly, it was Kankuro who noticed first. While his sister was the better of the two at picking up on whether Gaara was sad or had something on his mind, it was Kankuro who first noticed when he was getting angry or upset.

“How about Karefere Buffet?” Kankuro shouted out, in a more of a yelping way. While the pitch made it more aggravating, it also caught everyone’s attention, causing the girls to stop arguing. Temari quickly realized why Kankuro screeched in such a way, spotting a few specs of sand drifting closer to them.

“I’m okay with that,” Temari agreed. Neijire slowly nodded, happy with the decision. She gave a smile.

“That works for me!” She said, before chuckling. “But you sure sounded like a cat for a moment,” she added. Her blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What’s under your hat huh? Do you actually have ears?” she questioned. Kankuro suddenly became uncomfortable, and wondered why he always had to be the one picked on.

“Stop talking,” Gaara strained, fighting to calm himself. Temari quickly sent Gaara a panicked look before her eyes softened, seeing his pain. Before Temari could apologize to Neijire for Gaara’s rudeness, not wanting Nejire to bluntly say something that could provoke the boy further, Aizawa spoke up.

“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Aizawa stated, glancing in the rear mirror at the four chilldren, then to Yamada who quickly thought of something to occupy them.

“Yes! We will save the chatting for the buffet, and instead will jam out to the beat!” He exclaimed, turning on the music. Despite the music and light atmosphere, Kankuro still worried that Gaara was still upset and didn’t talk for the remainder of the trip, keeping one eye on him as he also listened to Nejire and Temari whisper about something called MiriTama. 

“Hey we’re here!” Neijire pointed out, her stomach growling with anticipation as they turned into the parking lot. The place had about as many people as you would expect for a restaurant near dinner time, and so it took a few minutes for Yamada to find a good parking spot. Once parked, they all anxiously jumped out of the car. It had been a long day and everyone was hungry. Even Gaara, who often didn’t eat, felt a hint of hunger, which was probably because of all of the social interaction. Once inside, the family and friend waited in a small line for a table.

  
Aizawa told them how many they had and paid, Nejire insisting she pay for her own, but Yamada refused. The waiter took them to their table.

“And here are your drinks, let me know if you need anything,” their waitress offered, setting down six thick glass cups in front of their corresponding people, before walking off to help other tables. Despite the large number of people, Gaara did not feel as upset as he usually would be. This is because the noise seemed to settle into the background, creating the illusion of a distant low drum. Gaara wished it would always be like that.

“Okay, let’s split off and go get some food! Try to stick together though, and stay away from desserts until after you have a proper meal,” Yamada explained, rushing through his words as he noticed the impatient look of the twins and Neijire. As soon as he was done, everyone took off like sharks to blood. Yamada stuck with Aizawa as they headed to the soup and noodle section. Temari and Neijire stuck together, continuing their conversation about their other friends. This left Kankuro and Gaara who seemed slightly slower than the other pairs. Kankuro did his best to keep an eye on the small boy, but still made his way to the seafood section. Kankuro rarely ate any seafood, but he loved smoked salmon. So he decided to get some. He began to get nervous though as Gaara curiously looked at the sushi selections. He hoped he wouldn’t be scolded if Temari knew Gaara was so close to shellfish. Kankuro let out a sigh as Gaara turned away and walked to the salad bar, where he carefully made his salad and made his way back to the table.

Temari and Neijire were the last ones to get back. Temari had vegetable soup, while Neijire had a massive amount of different things. Much to the dismay of Yamada, Aizawa just had some carrot cake. Yamada tried to feed him from his plate yet Aizawa refused.   
  
"This has carrots in it, it is healthy enough. Besides, I have had a long day and I want cake." Aizawa stated. 

"You really should listen to Yamada, Aizawa," Nejire said, "He is right you know, your not going to stay young forever." The kids looked between the two adults, but when they looked at Aizawa again the piece of carrot cake was gone, not even leaving the tiniest crumb. 

Aizawa then promptly stood up and walked away. The kids sat in silent shock. Was that a fight? Was their ‘friendship’ over? Would they move apart? They looked for clues from Yamada but he was devouring the food on his plate. 

Two minutes later, Aizawa was back. In his hands, he held a slice of apple pie, a salad, and a piece of cherry pie. Aizawa handed the cherry pie to Yamada and went back to his seat. Yamada raised a questioning eyebrow at Aizawa but ate the pie anyways. Gaara for the second time today felt like that this was a common occurrence among the two. 

“Gaara!” Nejire shouted suddenly to break the bewildered aura that was being emitted from the kids, “Eat this!” Neijire orders as she pushes a spoon full of a creamy tan liquid towards Gaara. Gaara eyed it suspiciously, but decided to try it. Kankuro’s nose twitches as he leans a little closer. His eyes widened as he recognized the smell of crayfish.

“Wait! Gaara don’t eat that!” Kankuro exclaimed, jumping out of his seat to snatch the spoon.

“Whoa! That’s a little rude. If you wanted to try it too, you could have just asked,” Nejire stated, shaking her head. Temari resisted her instinct to hit her twin, and stared at the dish.

“Hey Nejire, what kind of soup is that?” Temari questioned. Nejire gave a confused look, wondering why everyone seemed so shaken up by her soup.

“Uhh… I think it was called Bisque,” Nejire said, dropping her spoon back into the white dish. “Why?” 

“Well, Gaara is allergic to shellfish. I’ve never heard of Bisque soup before so I just assumed it didn’t have any shellfish in it,” Temari explained. Kankuro nodded in agreement sitting back down.

“I smelled the shellfish in the soup and panicked, sorry.” Kankuro apologised. 

“Oh! I just thought you guys were a family of soup snobs, but that makes more sense, but how did Kanku— ” Nejire said.

“You did well to react like that so quickly, otherwise we would have a dead child and I don’t want to deal with that paperwork.” Aizawa said cutting Nejire’s question off. Kankuro glowed with praise and happiness that he was able to protect his brother from harm. Gaara sighed and chased a grape tomato around his plate with his fork. 


	25. A Special ~ When Aizawa Isn't Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding bells and cats?

Shota kissed his new husband goodbye as he walked out the door. The pair had just gotten married the week before and they were still in the process of moving in. Shota had his cat Swirls before he got married but had always wanted another cat if he ever had a big enough space. Shota had brought a cat home their second day in the house. Hizashi was not surprised that another cat had shown up in their home and agreed to let the cat stay if he could name him. 

And so the cat was dubbed Mustachio. While Swirls was quiet and independent Mustachio was the exact opposite. The cat reminded Shota of Hizashi in a way. Both of the males were very loving but also quite demanding and bothersome. Despite this, Shota loved both of them. He had been planning on spending the day with Hizashi unpacking and just hanging out, but he had been called away to go investigate something in another city because he was the only free hero they thought would be inconspicuous enough for this task. 

“Okay ‘Zashi, I have to go now.” He said to the male desperately clinging to Shota not wanting him to leave. This went on for a while before Shota reluctantly managed to pry Hizashi off. After he reassured Hizashi that he would call when he could and be back as soon as possible, he walked to the car with Hizashi following like a lost puppy. 

As he was about to drive off he called out, “Make sure the cats are alive and the house is still standing when I get back!” Hizashi watched as the love of his life drove away and when he no longer could see the rental car he went back into the house. For the first few minutes, Hizashi wandered the house, unsure of what to do. He walked into the kitchen and tried to put away some of the silverware, but found himself wondering if Shota would prefer things arranged in a certain way. He then went upstairs to their bedroom where he began putting things away in his closet. He just wasn’t sure. Hizashi then wondered if he should just wait, and his thoughts drifted to how Shota would react if everything was done without him when he got back. He turned around and saw the black and white cat sitting on the king-sized bed, staring at him.

“I know! I should get everything done so when Shota gets back after a day of work, we can just relax on the bed and watch movies while cuddling!” Hizashi announced more to himself than to the cat. He first decided to finish the bedroom since he was already in there. He unpacked all of the moving boxes and the suitcases full of sheets, bedding and clothing and got to work. Feeling determined, Hizashi started unpacking things in record time and finished the upstairs within just two hours of starting. However, when he went back into the bedroom to grab his phone before heading downstairs, he found his work had been undone. Clothes were on the ground, and a couple even had some holes. The covers were no longer neatly laid, and now had a lot of wrinkles and clumps of fur. And in the middle of the room, sat the same tuxedo cat.

“Mmrow,” meowed Mustachio. Hizashi glared at the cat, before glancing at the clock. He still had plenty of time to get everything set up and still get the few things he wanted to make Shota breakfast, yet he still found himself glaring at the cat. Something told him this would not be the last time the cat would interfere with his perfect plan.

Hizashi shook his head, and hung the clothes back up, making sure to shut the closet door this time. He also set the damaged clothes off to the side, deciding to replace them when he went out. He then went downstairs after fixing the covers. Instead of doing the living room next, he went to the kitchen and took out a cat bowl. This is because he wondered if Mustachio was just hungry and wanted food. So he got the cat food, hearing the light pitter-patter as the cat quickly came into the kitchen. Hizashi chuckled some.

“You were just hungry, huh? You didn’t actually want to mess up my plans, right?” Hizashi rhetorically said to himself. Hizashi opened a can of tuna flavored cat food and put the ENTIRE thing into the bowl. **_(What are you doing Hizashi XD)_** The cat scarfed down the food like he never had been fed before and then pranced off. 

Hizashi then unpacked and tidied up in the living room. Satisfied he went to go make lemonade in the kitchen. As he tried to locate the pitcher in the many boxes, he heard a loud crash come from upstairs. 

Racing up the stairs, he realized that the crash had originated from the master bedroom. The covers were on the floor and the bookshelf was now lying on the floor. The perpetrator sat on the blanket-deprived bed in innocence as Hizashi began to fix the room for the third time. 

When he had finished, he shooed the cat out and shut the bedroom door. Hizashi grabbed the cat and headed downstairs to the kitchen again. He set the cat down and got another can of tuna. This attracted Swirls, who had been napping on the new couch. Hizashi set the can down and went to the boxes to find Swirl’s food bowl. Once he located it, he got yet another can of food and put each can into the respective bowls. 

Mustachio again scarfed down the meal and watched as Swirls ate her food slowly. Swirls ate about half of the bowl, which was a respectable amount for an adult cat, before strutting back to her napping spot. Mustachio was quick to consolidate on the abandoned food bowl and ate the rest of what was in it as well. ** _(For anyone with a cat: please do not feed your cat this much. No cats were harmed in the making of this special.)_**

“Well, since you have eaten you should be good now right? No more ruining daddy’s hard work now.” Hizashi said with glee, now moving to work with the kitchen. The kitchen was his place. He loved to create different meals , especially because it is what brought him close to Shota in the first place. As he worked he started humming. He was so happy that he had finally worked up the nerve to propose to Shota. He had wanted to plan the perfect wedding and Midnight helped to arrange things. He wiped his brow and decided to take a break from the kitchen after placing his pots and pans in drawers. 

Hizashi sat on the couch, careful not to disturbed the sleeping Swirls. He grabbed the home magazine on the table next to him and started shifting through it. He saw cribs and bunk beds fit for young children and sighed. He knew it was too soon to ask if they could adopt, but Hizashi really wanted kids. This is why he had insisted on a house with four bedrooms. 

“ _MMEMMEMEOOOOWOWOOWOW_ ” 

Hizashi heard a loud yowl from upstairs. Hizashi was suddenly filled with dread. Hizashi was dreading the scene that awaited him at the top of the stairs. As Hizashi climbed, he was surprised to see Mustachio just staring at him at the top. He passed the cat fearfully, but found this fear unfounded as nothing was out of place. He looked at the cat strangely as he headed back down the stairs to continue to work on the kitchen. As he went back down the cat let out another loud meow. ‘ _Does he want attention?’_ Hizashi thought. He walked back up the stairs and picked up the cat. He walked back downstairs and decided to go back to the couch. 

The presence of Mustachio seemed to disturb Swirls who began angrily growling at the attention she wasn’t receiving. Hizashi had to think fast. He remembered that Shota said that Swirls liked walks. He ran with a cat in his arms and found two leashes and collars. He put them on the cats, with much protesting from Mustachio. Swirls dragged Hizashi to the door while Hizashi dragged Mustachio.

Hizashi let out a sigh of relief as the two cats sniffed around outside, both enjoying their time in the outdoors. That is, until a car passed by on the road and Mustachio began to freak out. He frantically tried to get away, and began biting at his leash. Hizashi kneeled down beside the poor cat, trying to calm him down, but nothing seemed to help. Swirls was the exact opposite, trying to take off, and pull him, wanting to keep walking. After a few more minutes, Mustachio no longer seemed too bothered with traffic, only twitching his ears. Now however, he just refused to walk, forcing Hizashi to drag the cat for most of the walk. Hizashi had decided to take this opportunity to go to the store, and just wanted to get in and get out. His original plan consisted of the two cats waiting outside, but he now saw that wasn’t going to work.

Hizashi stood looking down at the two cats, wondering what he could do with them. He knew the store wouldn’t allow pets in, and yet he knew he couldn’t just leave them outside. On top of that, he didn’t want to waste a chance to get a few things when he was right at the store. So he came to a conclusion. He was just gonna have to sneak them in. Not being in the best of mindsets, and feeling rushed, Hizashi shoved the two cats under his shirt and stepped into the store. **_(Don't try this at home)_**

He immediately regretted this decision as both cats began trying to get out. Neither enjoyed being stuffed into the shirt, and feeling confined. Hizashi did his best to just keep walking, since he only needed a few items. He even decided to worry about the ruined clothes later, just wanting to grab the eggs and milk now before getting out of there. He was lucky enough to have such a baggy shirt on that day, otherwise he would have been stopped by the others in the store. However, what Hizashi didn’t know was that people noticed the moving mass under his shirt, but awkwardly avoided him, thinking he must be on hero business after recognizing him.   
He had almost made it out of the store when he was suddenly faced with a familiar face…. Midnight.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Midnight questioned. Hizashi came to a halt, nervously holding the bottom of his shirt.

“Uh, well… I have to get home to Shota,” Hizashi excused, feeling the cats getting more restless by the moment.

“That’s not right… Aizawa is away till morning,” she said suspiciously, “What are you hiding?”

“Uhhh….” Hizashi struggled to find words. Having already paid, he bolted out of the store with Midnight close on his heels. He stopped when he was a reasonable distance from the store and the cats eagerly removed themselves from their prison. He reattached their leashes and saw Midnight burst into laughter. Hizashi decided to ignore her and took his bags and his cats home.

At 4:29 a.m. Shota arrived back home. He opened the door of the house to see everything put away. He let out a small smile and went upstairs. Upon entering their bedroom, he blinked. Hizashi was passed out on the floor a foot away from the bed snoring. The Mustache was curled up on his face while Swirls was on his legs. Shota held back a laugh and thought to himself how lucky he was to be with Hizashi. He took off his work clothes and curled up with his family.


	26. Chapter 24 ~ Gaara, Gaara, Lee

The rest of the meal went a lot smoother. Other than the fact Aizawa ate mainly sweets, Yamada was quite pleased with the whole event.

“Is everyone full?” Yamada asked, ready to go.

“Yes. Thank you for letting me join you!” Nejire said happily. Temari nodded in delight, while Kankuro let out a burp, patting his stomach. This earned him a punch in the arm. 

They all got into the car, this time with Aizawa in the driver’s seat. Aizawa wanted to make sure that there would be no more unnecessary stops.   
Sure, give it a little break before we continue with the actual plot. Not sure, I’ll check  
Aizawa got Nejire’s address from her and dropped her off. With that, the group headed back to the house. As they walked to the front door of the house, they could hear meowing.

“Are those your cats?” Kankuro asked, quite confused as they parked along the curb. With that, a wave of realization hit Yamada and Aizawa like a bus as they realized they never got the cats their dinner. Swirls also hadn’t been on a walk in a few days and was probably getting restless. The couple raced out of the car and to the front door. Aizawa cared deeply for his cats, and didn’t like the thought of them going hours past their usual dinner time. Yamada was more concerned with the house, since he knew what kind of damage each cat on their own could cause.

“Uh, I guess we should head in as well,” Temari stated slowly. She then grabbed some bags with the outfits she had gotten for Gaara, and watched as Kankuro rushed in with a few bags of his own. Gaara and Temari were the last ones in the house, but as soon as they stepped in, a scream could be heard through the whole neighborhood. Dropping the bags of clothing, Temari raced upstairs to check on her twin, terrified for what could have caused such pain in his voice. As soon as she approached the bathroom, she knew what it was. Dirt was sprinkled here and there towards the stairs, and inside lay a shattered pot, a mound of wet dirt, and a dismantled cactus that was obviously dead. Scattered along the floor were small pea-looking pieces of the plant. Despite not sharing her brother’s love for succulents, Temari still felt bad. She knew how much Kankuro cared for the plant.

“What happened?” asked Gaara who had now made his way upstairs, after having put away his clothes. He sounded more annoyed than concerned.

“My life is ruined! Spikasaurus Rex is dead! And now I can’t go on in life without her!” Kankuro cried out, picking up the remains of his beloved plant.

“One of the cats must have knocked over the pot, and from that height, it shattered when it hit the ground,” Temari explained, patting her brother on the back. Gaara looked at the dirt, and the broken pot. He felt a tinge of sadness creeping up, but he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t really care for people, let alone plants. He did remember how his brother had helped him at the restaurant earlier that day, and wondered if he should return the favor. So, Gaara simply waved his wrist as sand swirled to make a new pot, hardening in front of Kankuro.

“G-Gaara…” Kankuro wasn’t sure what to say as he carefully picked up the slightly lighter pot. He felt his eyes water up even more as he smiled at his baby brother. “Thank you Gaara! Now Spikasaurus Rex can have a proper memorial!” Kankuro suddenly exclaimed as he began collecting the dirt and pieces of his cactus, and putting them in the new pot. Gaara shrugged and walked back to his room. He felt a unique feeling in his chest. It was an almost warm feeling, but he decided not to worry about it.

_“You're getting soft on me again, I’m warning you, this path will only get you hurt.”_ Shukaku cautioned. Gaara did his best to ignore it, and pulled out his textbooks, wanting to distract himself with his studies. After about half an hour, Gaara was joined by an eager Swirls, ready for her nightly routine.

Meanwhile, Shota and Hizashi were headed to bed, exhausted over taking care of the cats. After shutting their bedroom door and getting ready for bed without speaking, the pair curled up in bed together. 

“So… ‘Zashi,” Shota started, moving so he was facing his husband. “What was that earlier? Like how you gave them each a hundred dollars?” 

“Well, I just feel like we need to spoil them, ya know?” Hizashi said. “They really haven’t had a family to do things like that, to let them get what they wanted.” 

“We aren’t their family either ‘Zashi, they are just staying here for a while.” Shota said.

“What if they were… you know that I want us to have kids Sho.” Hizashi said hesitantly. 

“I know love, I have been thinking about asking if you wanted to adopt them, but this isn’t just about us. I don’t want to go too far. They just lost their father and moved here two days ago. If it’s okay, we could put in a request to adopt them, and if it is approved we can ask them about it.” Shota mumbled, earning a shriek and sobbing from Hizashi.

“Be quiet! They are sleeping!” Shota hissed, “Nothing is set in stone though, you understand that right?” 

After calming down, Hizashi responded. “Yes, of course! I just thought you didn’t ever want kids.”

“I didn’t.” Shota said, “But these ones are okay I guess,” 

“Awww is my brooding hubby having emotions?” 

“Shut up.” Shota grumbled, turning over. Hizashi smiled and cuddled into Shota. 

_**This is since the story started.** _   
_**Death Count of Spikasaurus Rex: 1** _


	27. Chapter 25 ~ Half a Gaara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Enjoy the chapter! We always appreciate any comments! We believe that the more exhausted we get the more sarcastic Shukaku gets....

Gaara heard Yamada coming up the stairs to wake them up because breakfast was ready and went to the door. Yamada opened the door.

“Breakfast is… AHHHH!!!” Yamada yelped when he saw Gaara in front of him, “I keep forgetting that you don’t sleep, like how is that even possible?” Gaara shrugged and pushed past Yamada to go downstairs. 

Gaara was hungry. Usually he didn’t eat this much in a month, much less in two days, but he supposed it was because he was being forced to eat more regularly that this was happening. He looked at the stove and saw weird tan fluffy things. 

‘ _What are those?_ ’ He thought to himself.

“ _They are called pancakes, stupid_.” Shukaku said intruding in on Gaara’s inner thoughts. Gaara ignored him and decided to wait for the others to come down and start eating so he would know how to eat them.

Gaara successfully avoided suspicion and breakfast was now over. They all got ready for school and got into Aizawa’s family vehicle. On the way there, Yamada started to ask what they all would like for dinner.

“So, I’m thinking like a carrot soup, and you guys all can help!” Yamada said, deciding.

“Um… I don’t think letting Temari in the kitchen is a good idea… see this one time….” Kankuro was cut off with a sharp jab from the subject of the sentence. “Well, let’s just say that I never allowed her in the kitchen again, and I took on all of the meal making.” Kankuro continued. 

“Wow! You cook! We can have so much fun!” Yamada exclaimed, excited that he could bond with one of the kids. “Anyone can learn to cook anyway, you guys should have seen Shota when he first started, but now he can cook just fine.” Yamada said. Kankuro looked at him in disbelief but didn’t say anything further about it because he was afraid for his life. 

Gaara wasn’t ready when Aizawa parked at the school. He sighed and walked to his classroom, ignoring the voices of his siblings. When he entered the classroom, he was the first one there, so he sat in his seat and pulled out the textbook he had been reading. Despite starting it when they had gotten home last night, he still had a chapter left. It was about World History and Gaara did not find this as interesting as the science one so it was taking him longer to get through. 

He continued to read even when everyone got to class and Aizawa started talking. He missed everything that was going on and when he finished the chapter and looked up, Midoriya was standing at the front of the classroom with the black haired Gaara had been partnered with. 

“So Midoriya and Yaoyorozu are your class rep and assisted not class rep.” Aizawas announced in a bored tone. Gaara was confused. He did not know what a class rep was, but he assumed that it was important based on everyone’s reactions. 

“I’ll do my best…” the bush started before Gaara tuned him out looking around. 

The bell rang. No one moved from their seats, however, they did get out English textbooks and notebooks and turn to chat with those around them. Gaara took this as a sign that they were going to have English next, so he got out his own textbook, and one of the notebook that was purchased for him yesterday. Gaara opened his textbook to the first page and realized that he had no idea what it was talking about. He also realized that he would have to go and get beginners English, because you cannot just start learning the grammar of a new language before you know the vocabulary and the alphabet. He sighed and closed the book.

“Welcome to your second official day of school, class!!!!!!!!!!!!” Announced a voice he was too familiar with. Yamada was his English teacher. This would be interesting. “Today we are going to start discussing the I before E except after C rule. It is very inconsistent in English and doesn’t follow its own rule most of the time.” Yamada explained. “For example, in the word ‘their’ the e comes before the i. So for this, I’ll have you write down a list of words which have both an i and an e, and you can guess which one goes first, and whether this should be considered a rule.” 

Gaara had a basic idea that the ‘e’ and ‘i’ being spoken about were letters of the English language, but he could not understand the rest of what Yamada was saying. Gaara decided that he preferred to learn on his own and pulled out the next textbook on his list to read, Introduction to Trigonometry. Gaara actually had to work out some of the problems in math textbooks because you cannot simply memorize all of the skills you needed for it. Memorizing definitely made math easier though and Gaara was progressing through at a steady rate. 

Yamada noticed that Gaara was not listening and was reading a math textbook. Yamada mentally slapped himself as he came to a realization. Temari and Kankuro both had a natural talent for English when they came to U.A., he remembered this because when they were in his class freshman year, they could speak and write it fluently, so they were given a different class to take instead. Since Gaara used his siblings textbooks to study, he would not have had an English one to study. 

Yamada assigned a worksheet to the class and casually walked out of the classroom. Once he was out of the classroom, he took off in a dead sprint towards the library. 

Meanwhile in the unsupervised classroom, the second that their teacher left, they started to talk. The tense blue haired boy suddenly jumped out of his seat.

“Stop talking this instant! It is not respectful to talk in the classroom and if Mr. Yamada comes back, we could all get in serious trouble!” The stiff boy said. Most of the class sighed and ignored him, continuing their conversations. 

Todoroki looked over to the boy next to him who was still reading the Trig book that he had opened in the beginning of class. ‘ _Is this a good time to speak with him?’_ Todoroki wondered. Todoroki started battling internally with himself before opening his mouth.

“HEY CLASS!!!!! I am back!!!!” Yamada panted, using his quirk slightly. The sudden loudness caused all of the students to jolt back to their assignment and stop talking. 

Todoroki let out an internal sigh. He would have to ask him another time.

As the students worked, Yamada worked his way toward Gaara’s desk with a book as inconspicuous as possible, for he did not want the other students to notice Gaara getting a beginner's English book as a first year in high school. Reaching Gaara’s desk, he slipped the book under his desk ‘discreetly’ by falling to the floor of the classroom and placing it there. Miraculously, the students did not see the book, but were very confused as to why their teacher had fallen.

Gaara had tracked Yamada’s movements ever since he entered the room and had seen the textbook. Letting out a sigh, Gaara reached under the table, grabbed the book, and opened it on top of his math one, not caring who saw, rendering all of Yamada’s work useless. No one noticed except Todoroki who was watching Gaara and not the teacher who made a spectacle of himself like the other nearby students. 

Yamada got up, brushed himself off, and walked back to the desk, proud of himself. 


	28. Chapter 26 ~ Twice the Gaara

The bell rang, signaling the end of English. “Okay everyone! That is it for today, no homework and I’ll see you all tomorrow!!” Yamada said, gathering his things.

Once he had left, everyone started to talk about how they were all questioned by the press that morning while trying to get into school. “Yeah, Mr. Aizawa was out there as well, probably monitoring the situation to make sure it did not get out of hand, no one recognized him and kept asking for All Might.” A spiky redhead commented.

“I wonder why he is an underground hero, who would ever not choose to be in the spotlight?” Asked the invisible one. 

Gaara sighed. He didn’t understand why people wanted to be in the spotlight at all, it seemed like too much trouble. 

“Heroes just help in whatever way they can, it doesn’t matter if you get recognized or not, you just do the best you can!” Midoriya claimed somewhat meekly, but with a lot of conviction. 

Gaara decided to tune them all out and continue to read his English book. ‘ _Is this a good time to ask him?’_ Todoroki thought. ‘ _No Shoto, he is reading his book… he looks invested, better not bother him’_ Todoroki responded. 

The next class was something Gaara actually knew things about, Earth science. This class was taught by Cementoss, whom Gaara knew nothing about. 

As the bell rang, a large, well, cement-like person walked through the door. The cement man walked to the front of the classroom and faced the class. Gaara took a shot in the dark and assumed that this was Cementoss.

“In today’s class we will be starting our unit on the Four Spheres of Earth, open your textbooks to page 21.” Cementoss said. Gaara did not move to pull out his textbook, which did not go unnoticed by the two toned bean beside him **_(seriously Todoroki, you need to stop being a stalker!)_** , and his teacher. “You, who was not present in class yesterday!” Cementoss started and Gaara fixed his eyes on him, “Why do you not have your textbook open?” Gaara shrugged in response. “Please open your book now, do you need me to repeat the page number?” Cementoss asked, exasperated. Some of the students had begun to snicker.

“Page 21, Introduction of Earth Science. Chapter 1: Closed and Open Systems. Section 1: Open systems are systems that interact with other systems inside their own environment. They take in air and things such as food, and let out other substances.” Gaara paused, “Would you like me to continue?” He asked innocently. 

“Is… that the… textbook?” Cementoss asked, dumbfounded. 

“Yes, I read it two days ago. It was very interesting.” Gaara said nonchalantly. Gaara’s stalker sat there also dumbfounded, as he had been following along with what Gaara had been saying and looking at his textbook in wonder.

“ _Well, if you were still trying to be inconspicuous and normal, you just failed...miserably._ ” Shukaku said with glee.

“Whoah! You memorized the whole book after reading it once?!” A pink-skinned girl exclaimed. She was not alone in her amazement as many of the other students looked in awe. “That would make tests soooo easy!” She added, whining. The blonde boy with a short fuse merely huffed at the raucous. He didn’t see why everyone thought the small boy was such a big deal. He still had one of the top scores in the class, and at the end of the day, he would be the number one hero.

“Yes?” Gaara said hesitantly, “I think it depends for tests, though I cannot say that I have much experience with them.” 

“Did your middle school not have a lot of tests or something, lucky!” A black and yellow-haired boy called out in a format that was kind of a question but more like an assumption. 

“Kazekage here did not go to middle school, he was… um… homeschooled?” Cementoss tried to cover up his mistake. 

Gaara looked at the cement teacher weirdly, “Home...school?” He mumbled. Gaara was confused, he didn’t know what the term ment. 

“ _It’s just like what it sounds like, idiot. When you’re taught at home. Didn’t you ever listen when your siblings would argue with Rasa about getting you homeschooled?_ ” Shukaku immediately butted in.

“No… not really,” Gaara said to both parties, “I learned on my own, but no one taught me…” He was silenced by a look from Cementoss that begged him to stop. Gaara only listened out of extreme confusion that everyone in the class seemed to share. Todoroki started wondering how the adorable bean next to him suddenly realized what home schooling was. 

“OKCLASSANYWAYS,” Cementoss started, trying to plug the leak in the sinking ship before it sank completely, “let’s talk about open and closed systems, thank you Kazekage for introducing it.” Cementoss let out an inward sigh. He did not sign up for this. 

Gaara did not speak the rest of the class period, but he was more than happy to do the assignments given to him. He finished both the in-class work and the stuff that was supposed to be homework **_(rebel)_**. Gaara left his seat to give the teacher his assignments, who took them and looked at him with a helpless face. He returned to his seat and took his English book back out. 

Math was up next on Class 1-A’s schedule and Ectoplasm was the teacher. First years at UA took Geometry, because it was a gateway into higher level math. Gaara was pretty okay with the lesson because geometry was a subject that Kankuro asked Gaara to do his homework for, and had given him his textbook at first. Gaara knew the basics in math because Kankuro had always struggled with it. He did not learn anything too in depth, because Temari quickly caught on to Kankuro using his brother as a homework pass. 

When the bell rang again, it was time for lunch. Gaara had decided to stay in the classroom so that his sister would not get any more ideas. He had planned ahead and even packed himself a lunch so his sister wouldn’t even have a reason to go looking for him. That, and he had actually been hungry lately, his sister was just a convenient excuse. So he pulled out the brown paper bag and pulled out a rice cake. Gaara also grabbed his English book, not wanting to waste any time, and began reading while he ate his rice cake, taking small bites in between chapters.

He was about halfway done with his rice cake when alarms started to go off. 


	29. Chapter 27 ~ Sarkura, Deidara, Gaara

As the alarms went off, Gaara made no move to follow the instructions to evacuate.

 _"Are you going to move?"_ Shukaku asked.

"No." Gaara dismissed.

 _"How about yes?"_ Shukaku demanded. Gaara brought the rice cake to his mouth as the classroom door burst open. Gaara looked up, his rice cake against his lips, and saw Todoroki. He locked eyes with the boy and then ate the entire rice cake in one bite.

 _'Did he think I was going to take his rice cake?'_ Todoroki thought, slightly hurt. Todoroki shook his head, and raised an eyebrow.  
"What are you doing here? We need to evacuate with the rest of the students," Todoroki noted. Gaara merely shrugged.

"I don't feel like it," Gaara plainly stated. Todoroki blinked.

"It's not a choice. There is an intruder and we are being ordered to evacuate," Todoroki stood his ground. Gaara sighed and glanced towards the hallway which was crowded with people and wrinkled his nose.

"I'm good," Gaara concluded. Todoroki was now beginning to feel frustrated and suspicious.

"Why are you so determined to stay? You have to evacuate, and by staying here you're drawing a lot of attention to yourself, as if you know what's going on," Todoroki began to ponder the possibilities, but when he had looked up, the small boy had one foot on the windowsill of the now-open window. Todoroki's eyes widened as the boy pushed off the ledge, out the window. Todoroki subconsciously moved towards the boy out of fear, knowing that hitting the ground at the height they were at could result in serious injury. Why would he jump?

However, Gaara was perfectly fine as a cloud of sand had formed under him, and supported his weight. "Where are you going?" Todoroki demanded. Gaara gave a glance back.

"Investigating. Something's off." Gaara said, continuing on his path. As Todorki was talking, Gaara sensed an aura that was unlike anyone else's at the school. The only thing Gaara could decode from the aura was that it was powerful and damaged, similar to his own.

As Gaara floated about the school, he found the obvious reason for the alarm, reporters. He turned away as soon as he saw them, because he knew the person responsible for the aura would not be with them.

Gaara inferred that the person would not have entered the campus so he flew over to the gate and looked over the top, in a way that he would go undetected. He sent out his sand eye to be less conspicuous.

It only took him a minute to find the person responsible for provoking Gaara's interest. The person was a blue haired male who was being very suspicious standing about thirty feet from the gate, not bothering to mask his presence at all.

He seemed to be monologing to himself but an eye cannot hear so therefore Gaara would never know what he was saying.

 _"Wow, you can make an eye, but it can't hear, how about you make an ear next time?"_ Shukaku laughed.

 _"No, because then I wouldn't be able to see."_ Gaara shot back, too intrigued and angry to realize that Shukaku was teasing him.

 _"You are-"_ Shukaku was cut off as Gaara blocked him out to see the blue haired man step backwards through a purple portal. Gaara was slightly irritated that he learned nothing about the interesting man. He called back his sand eye.

Gaara floated back to the still open window, and into his seat closing it behind him. His classmates, having been ushered back into the school after they contained the press, all stared at him.

"Mind telling us where you were?" Aizawa spoke up.

"Investigating." Gaara said, giving him the same answer that he gave Todoroki.

"I see... we will talk after class." Aizawa responded. Sensing the tension in the air the class kept silent. "Class officers, please come up here, I don't want to deal with this." Aizawa zipped up his caterpillar and went back to the floor.

Gaara was tempted to do the same thing, but he knew he could not otherwise Shukaku would take control. _"Why would that be such a bad thing?"_ Shukaku prompted.

 _"Cause if I let you out, someone will wind up dead. And they'll blame me."_ Gaara responded with a sigh.

 _"Sooooooooo that is a yes on letting me out right?"_ Shukaku jokingly asked.

 _"No."_ Gaara said firmly.

 _"But I thought we could like totally embrace the bad guy thing, everyone likes a bad boy in high school. You could get anything and anyone you wanted... oooo we could start a gang! Now wouldn't that be fun! Let me out, I know you're tired anyway, you could get some well deserved rest!"_ Shukaku tempted.

 _"NO."_ Gaara said with annoyance. He was tired but he knew that he could not give in to Shukaku.

 _"Buuuut-"_ Shukaku whined.

"I said NO!" Gaara shot back. Too late he realized he said this out loud, and he wasn't quiet about it either. The class had stopped whatever discussion they were having and some looked at the usually passive boy with surprise. Before anyone could say anything, the bell rang signaling the end of the day. Gaara let out a relieved sigh, as he did not want to deal with any more people today.

Unfortunately, the bell did not save Gaara. Midoriya walked up to him, "Are you all right, Gaara?"

**_"No. I have a thing called crippling depression that was caused by my overwhelming anxiety and zero self confidence. Thanks for asking." *Cough Cough* sorry. Back to the story...._ **

"Yes, why?" Gaara questioned, seemingly unaware of the disturbance. Midoriya debated just shrugging the whole thing off, but he wanted to know what had happened. There was a lot of mystery shrouding the sandy boi, and bush boi wanted to find out the truth.

"You had suddenly shouted out, yet you're usually so quiet," Midoriya pointed out. Gaara stared off for a moment. He struggled finding what to say. He couldn't just say he was talking to Shukaku. Gaara had learned from a very young age he had to be careful about talking about the demon within him, as it usually led to bad things. So instead, he had to make something up.

"Nothing is wrong, I was just thinking about something." Gaara dismissed Midoriya's concern. Midoriya knew that the boy was not telling the truth, but now was not the right time to ask him about it, as he was being very evasive. So instead he just nodded. "I have to talk to Aizawa now." Gaara informed Midoriya to get away. He wasn't excited about the task, he wasn't sure if the man was furious or just exhausted... or both. Gaara ignored the attempts of the rest of his classmates to talk with him as he made his way to the front. Gaara waited at Aizawa's desk because the man was still seemingly asleep.

In groups or by themselves, the students left the classroom until it was just Gaara and his teacher. Gaara debated about waking up Aizawa himself, but decided against it. However, Aizawa still stirred as soon as Gaara made the decision to not bother him.

"So, we need to talk." Aizawa yawned out, "Walk with me." The two walked out of the classroom and down the halls. "You saw something, didn't you?" Aizawa asked, already knowing the answer. Gaara nodded, then realized that he probably wanted to know what or rather who he saw. Gaara opened his mouth to speak but Aizawa shook his head. They continued to walk until they reached Nezu's office.

 _"People probably already assume you are a bad kid, since you always go to the principal's office, so lets make it a reality!"_ Shukaku cheered. Instead of goading him on Gaara kept silent this time as they walked in.

Nezu's office had changed again. The flooring was now a dark red color, there were five folding chairs set up in the room, and Nezu's desk was now out of the way in the corner. "Sit down and make yourselves comfortable." Nezu said.

"We would have been much more comfortable before you changed the furniture from yesterday's." A gruff voice mumbled out. Gaara looked over in recognition. The voice belonged to the detective that was there after Rasa was killed.

"Now, now," Nezu started, "There would not be enough chairs for everyone if I would have kept the same set up as yesterday."

The detective grunted in response. Gaara and Aizawa sat in the last two empty chairs. "So, how are things Gaara?" Nezu asked, turning the attention to the matter at hand. Gaara shrugged in response to the question, until he was forced to answer when no one spoke for the next ten minutes.

"Fine." Gaara said dismissively. The group then sat for another ten minutes before they came to the conclusion that was all they would get from the boy without further prompting.

"How is living with the yellow calipiter?" The detective asked, trying to break through.

"Fine." Gaara said with a lighter tone. Tsukauchi noticed the change in the boy and decided that it meant that he was happy there.

"How has class been going?" The detective continued; he was there to stifle the department's anxieties about Gaara and to check up on the kid at the same time.

"Fine." Gaara said. This time the detective discerned what sounded like satisfaction.

 _'So he is doing well, I'm glad.'_ the detective thought.

"Yes, Gaara is doing very well in class, according to his teachers," Nezu said, "He memorizes anything he reads."

"Cool! Well, that is all I need, we can be done now." Tsukauchi wrapped up.

"So, Gaara came into the window after all the students were back in the school." Aizawa said.

"Oh?" Nezu raised his eyebrow. "Care to explain, Gaara?"

"I felt a strange aura so I went out and investigated." Gaara said. Tsukauchi felt injured. He had only gotten 'Fine' out of the boy.

"Did you find where it was coming from?" Nezu prompted.

"Yes, although he disappeared before I could really notice anything important about him,"He said, "or hear anything he said." Gaara added, slightly annoyed. "I could tell he was powerful and had blue hair, that is about it."

"Thank you, Gaara. I think this will help us." Nezu said, wondering the backstory around the boy's annoyance.

"Gaara, would you step out for a moment?" The detective asked, standing up. Gaara nodded and walked out the door.

"I'm sorry about this, the department has been on my case about Gaara since they have nothing worth doing, apparently." Tsukauchi sighed, "I'll ask this even though I know the answer, have there been any incidents regarding the boy's other quirk?"

"Not anything that couldn't be solved with minimal effort, and the small problems he did have were only dangers to himself." Aizawa said honestly.

"Great. Let's all get out of here," Tsukauchi looked at Nezu, "unless this is your office."

Aizawa and Gaara said their goodbyes and headed down the halls. Gaara assumed that the twins were with Yamada, or doing their own thing. When they found Yamada, the twins were with him. Kankuro was crying on the floor, curled up like a cat. Aizawa shot a questioning glance at Temari, who just shook her head. "Teacher's lounge." She mouthed, and Aizawa lost any concern that he had been holding onto. Aizawa sighed. Everything was starting to get complicated.


	30. Chapter 28 ~ Gaara in A Bird

After they all got home and everyone started doing their own thing, Yamada went to the kitchen. “TEMARI!!!” He shouted. Temari came down from her room to find Yamada in the process of getting a whole lot of cooking supplies out. 

“Yes?” Temari asked politely, wondering what was going on.

“You will be helping me with cooking duty tonight! It will be fun and easy!” Yamada said. He had picked out BLTs because it was simple and easy for a lesson. ‘ _No one can mess this up_ ’ he thought. 

“Ok, what do I need to do?” Temari inquired, wanting to prove Kankuro wrong. 

“We are making bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches! So, first we have to rip the lettuce up.” Yamada explained, showing her how to rip the lettuce. Temari instantly failed. The pieces she ripped off always managed to be too small or too large. When she tried to fix the larger pieces, she just ended up with two too small pieces. Temari decided to admit that her brother was right. 

“Sorry, Yamada, I think I just am not cut out for this.” Temari said, defeated.

“Don’t be silly, it doesn’t matter the size of the lettuce, you can always put more than one peice on a sandwich.” Yamada comforted, “I think we have enough lettuce now, let’s toast the bread now!” 

Temari concluded that the toaster hated her. Every single slice of bread she put in came out burnt. As soon as Yamada came over from where he was frying bacon to help her out, his toast came out perfect. She left the toasting to Yamada. “I think I will just set up the table or something, I-“ she started before Yamada cut her off. 

“Nonsense! You can do this, here, let me show you how to cut tomatoes!” Yamada exclaimed, turning down the burner on the bacon. Yamada showed her how to hold the knife and where on the tomato to cut. “You want thinner slices, but not too thin.” Yamada instructed, returning to the stove, “You’ve got this!”

Temari seriously doubted that she had this. She repeated the steps to herself as she prepared to cut through. “Ouch!!” Temari shouted in pain.

Yamada looked over at Temari in surprise. “SHOTA!!!!!!!!!!!” He screamed looking around in panic.

Shota appeared worried that something was seriously wrong. He hadn’t heard Hizashi that panicked since Shota had been in the hospital. “What is wrong?” He asked, already assessing the situation for himself. Temari was holding her finger and trying to get Hizashi to calm down, saying it was just a small cut. Shota sighed, “Temari, lets go get your finger fixed up so Hizashi can calm down.” He knew that Hizashi was not only upset that she had gotten hurt, he blamed himself, even if it was no big deal. 

As soon as Aizawa had finished speaking Mustachio came into the kitchen. He had heard all the noise and had wandered in to investigate only to smell the bacon. Aizawa paid no attention to the cat as he ushered Temari up the stairs and towards the bathroom, leaving Yamada alone.

Yamada locked eyes with the ‘starving’ cat as he was filled with determination. He knew he had to keep the food safe, especially since Temari had gotten hurt while doing her best. He could not let her efforts go to waste. He put himself in between the cat and the bacon as the tuxedo cat sniffed the air, nose high. Mustachio’s emerald eyes narrow, looking behind where Yamada is standing, as he locks on to where he can only assume the delicious smell is emitting from. And all Yamada can do is hope, as he prepares to face off against the terrifying beast.

While Yamada was having the fight of his life, Aizawa was having a different type of battle. “Kankuro, your sister is fine, she just has a small cut on her finger, why don’t you go down and help Yamada? He needs it.” Aizawa said.

Kankuro had just been rejoicing that his cactus had somehow risen from the dead, and was now putting it back in the bathroom, taping the bottom of the pot to the sill, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. While he was putting the final touches on, Aizawa had come in with Temari. He was about to say, ‘I told you so’, before he realized that Temari was injured. 

It took a lot of convincing, but eventually Kankuro was on his way downstairs to help Yamada. Aizawa let out a sigh, “Your brother is quite protective.” 

“Yeah, he has always been this way. He has an annoying tendency to overreact when someone is hurt. It has been getting better now that he can actually protect Gaara though.” Temari admitted.

Aizawa could tell that this was the tip of a very large iceberg, but he didn’t want to push her before she was ready. He didn’t want another person to break on his watch. He fixed up her finger as slow as possible. He really did not want to go back downstairs at the moment. 

Unfortunately for Aizawa, his return was inevitable. The scene that he was presented with was quite similar to what he had been imagining. Kankuro was chopping tomatoes, and Yamada was still fighting with Mustachio. However, Kankuro seemed quite happy with his job, and was going at an even pace, chopping identical slices onto a platter. Yamada on the other hand, was just as frantic as Aizawa had pictured. Yamada was bouncing between the kitchen and the dining room, as he was doing his best at staying in front of the ninja-like cat. Mustachio was a very determined cat and had not been fed for at least 20 minutes, which was far too long for the surprisingly-not-fat cat.

“Is uh, everything okay in here?” Aizawa dared to ask. Kankuro glanced back, his eyes first darting towards Temari, before he calmed back down.

“Mmhm!” Kankuro assured them, as he began bringing out the ingredients for BLT’s out to the dining room. Yamada was, of course, a different story.

“Why is this cat so fast?! He eats all the time!” Yamada wondered. Aizawa gave a small shrug.

“Not sure,” he answered, as if it answered anything. Then, he turned towards the stairs. “I’ll go get Gaara,” he announced. Kankuro’s eyes glanced up at Gaara’s name, but he continued setting the table and was soon joined by Temari.

Once everyone else had been seated, Yamada could finally sit down. Gaara didn’t know what to do with the bread in front of him, so he just watched Aizawa put his together. It turns out that he wasn’t the only one watching Aizawa for guidance. Both Temari and Kankuro were also wanting to know how to make the sandwich. Yamada noticed them looking.

“Have you guys not had BLTs before?” Yamada asked to receive three head shakes, “Seriously? Not even you Kankuro, you seemed to do so well at cooking bacon!?” 

“Just because I haven’t had BL or whatever doesn’t mean I can’t make bacon!” Kankuro refuted, annoyed. “We just had different types of food ok? I cooked a lot of good food, I’ll show you!” 

“Ok then, you’ll be on meal duty for now!” Yamada said, eager to not have to deal with Mustachio while cooking for a while. “We will get you anything you want to cook with, just let us know okay?” Yamada swore Kankuro had sparkles in his eyes.

“Really? You mean it?” Kankuro asked. 

“Yes! I am interested in tasting your cooking!” Yamada said, excitedly. With this being said, Yamada showed the kids how to put together their sandwiches. After dinner Temari offered to do dishes, but was rejected by Yamada, because of her finger. Yamada told the three siblings to head upstairs with much arguing from the twins. Yamada and Aizawa tag teamed the dishes and then headed upstairs themselves. Once they had reached their room, Aizawa spoke up.

“It wasn’t your fault that she cut her finger you know.” Shota said. 

“But, she got hurt on my watch, maybe I’m not cut out to be a father.” Hizashi said with a sob. He broke down crying in Shota’s arms. Shota knew that this was not the first time Hizashi had thought about this, he had enough doubt that the small event was enough to garner this response from him.

“Look at me ‘Zashi, we both know that this isn’t about today, but no matter what, I think you will be an excellent father.” Shota said.

Hizashi eventually calmed down and they fell asleep in each other’s arms. 

_**~~(the first time skip of this book brought to you by Mustachio’s love of bacon)~~**_  
  
Gaara was out of bed before Aizawa had come in to get him. He had an unusually rough night, as Swirls AND Mustachio had come in. He was only able to get through one of his textbooks, and felt restless the whole time. Shukaku also began to talk a lot more. He constantly commented on Gaara’s textbooks, and the way he treated the cats. And as soon as morning fell, Shukaku wouldn’t stop bothering him about some kind of warning and bad feeling. Gaara had no bad feeling. Shukaku also told him he would need his gourd filled with sand. Gaara knew they wouldn’t be doing any fighting for a while, and even if they were, he knew he could take any of the students on without his gourd.

“You okay Gaara? You don’t look so good,” Temari anxiously pointed out as the two headed down for breakfast. Gaara shrugged.

“Long night,” he explained. Temari didn’t really see how that helped since every night was a long one for Gaara. She did note how both cats had exited from his room, so she could only assume it was their fault. It was only once they reached the bottom of the stairs that Temari noticed one of her brothers was missing. Kankuro. Just as she turned to call back for him, a blur of black ran in between her and Gaara right into the kitchen. Temari let out a sigh, shaking her head at him before following.

“Hey! Why are you cooking?! You said I would be on cooking duty!” Kankuro exclaimed after seeing Yamada already at the stove. Yamada froze, having forgotten about their prior agreement.

“Uh… well,” Yamada struggled to find the right words. “I meant just for dinner!” He quickly explained. Kankuro stared for a moment, doubting Yamada’s words. However, he still let out a sigh.

“Fine” Kankuro begrudgingly accepted, before stepping closer. “Omelettes!” Kankuro eagerly exclaimed. Yamada chuckled, and nodded. He was just glad Kankuro didn’t point out his bluff. He actually had meant cooking at all, but he was so used to getting up early and cooking, that it had completely slipped his mind.

“Mmhm! I hope you’ve had those before,” Yamada teased. Kankuro huffed, heading towards the table.

“Who hasn’t had an omelette before?” He rhetorically asked.

So the group ate breakfast before heading out. They arrived at school early, as per usual, and Gaara went straight to his first hour.

“ _You’re going to regret not listening,_ ” Shukaku warned. Gaara wanted to blow the demon off, but he finally was starting to get a bad feeling about the day. He began to wish he had his gourd with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoyed nearly 2000 words about dinner and breakfast... don't worry, there is a lot of action up ahead


	31. Chapter 29 ~ Oh God it's Gaara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shukaku being Shukaku...

The feeling only got worse as the day went on. His classes passed much like yesterday’s, with Gaara paying attention to little of what the teacher was saying and more to the words in his textbooks. 

Before he realized it, the bell rang for lunch. Gaara got out his lunch from under his desk. He had put it there so he did not have to leave the classroom and run the risk of running into his sister. 

While Gaara was pulling out his lunch, Midoriya and Uraraka were having an argument. Midoriya had been talking with Uraraka about inviting Gaara to sit with them at lunch, since he had noticed that the boy seemed to be a loner. Uraraka agreed that this was a great idea and told Midoriya to go and ask him. 

“I think he would respond better to you asking him instead of me, I-” Midoriya panicked.

“No, I think you need to be more confident in yourself! Go and ask him!” Uraraka cheered, pushing him towards Gaara’s desk. Midoriya stumbled into Gaara’s desk and started stuttering. 

“Um… I was um… wondering, if you would like to… you know… come sit with us at lunch?” Midoriya said, avoiding eye contact. The last time the bush had talked to Gaara, he didn’t seem as nervous, which really confused Gaara. Just when he was about to reject the offer, the door to the classroom burst open. 

“GAARA!!” Gaara winced at the familiar voice, while the green bush jumped back in surprise. An angry blonde stormed into the room, rushing over to the poor red bean. She began to open her mouth, ready to lecture her brother for attempting to ditch her like the previous day, when she noticed Midoriya staring at her with fear. Midoriya jumped as soon as he noticed her looking at him and began frantically looking around. Temari’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on. “You’ve made friends!” She suddenly exclaimed, a smile proudly spread across her face. Gaara looked to Midoriya, debating about how to respond.

“I guess,” Gaara softly said. He wasn’t quite sure if he could ever have what people called a friend again, but saying he did would get his sister off his back, he didn’t care. 

Midoriya’s nerves subsided slightly as he looked closer at the mysterious boy. _‘Does he really see me as a friend?’_ Midoriya wondered. Judging by Temari’s expression, Gaara’s response was not an expected one.

“I’m so happy for you!” Temari cheered. She took a step closer as if in an attempt to hug Gaara, but stepped back as soon as she noticed the sand that was always stuck to him starting to move. Temari seemed unfazed by this, however, and looked to Midoriya who was lost in his thoughts. “I hope I didn’t scare you too much by bursting in. I just was worried Gaara was ditching me like yesterday,” Temari said. “I’m Temari by the way, Gaara’s older sister!” she introduced herself. Midoriya stood paralyzed with fear.

“I-I-I’m M-Mid-dor-iya…” Midoriya managed out. Uraraka stepped closer, along with a tall blue haired boy.

“It’s nice to meet you Temari! I’m Uraraka and this is Iida!” Uraraka spoke up, taking over for Midoriya.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Iida gave a large bow.

“Sorry about Deku, he can get nervous around new people,” Uraraka covered up. Temari’s smile only grew while she looked at the kids. It was one thing for Gaara to have made one friend, but to have made three… Temari couldn’t wait to tell Kankuro. After taking a quick glance at the clock Temari gave a nod of acknowledgement.

“Well it was nice to meet you three, and to see that my baby brother has friends! But I should get going before lunch is over! Have a nice time!” Temari said, already out the door. Iida proceeded to check the time as well.

“We should go down to the cafeteria as well, there are only 30 minutes left of lunch,” Iida informed the group. Uraraka turned to Gaara, who had been hopelessly wishing that they would also leave without him.

“Gaara was it? Come with us and we can show you where we usually sit!” she eagerly invited, motioning Gaara along. Gaara sighed as he could tell he had no choice.

_“So much for eating alone,”_ Gaara said to himself. He then heard Shukaku snickering at him.

_“At least it isn’t your sister,”_ Shukaku offered. Despite feeling dislike towards all humans, Shukaku often found himself more annoyed with Temari than even Gaara got.

Gaara was led to a somewhat empty table after the others got their food. The group then sat down with Midoriya and Gaara on one side, and Iida and Uraraka on the other. For most of lunchtime, Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya talked amongst themselves, occasionally asking Gaara’s opinion on something. However, throughout their chatter, Midoriya would glance over at Gaara, as if waiting to ask him something.

“U-Um, hey Gaara?” Midoriya had finally worked up his nerves enough to ask.

“Hm?” Gaara looked up from his (food).

“I w-was just wondering how your quirk works,” Midoriya got out. He had been thinking about it for a while, and yet wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to ask. “L-Like is it easy to move sand? Can you move any sand? What defines sand, since technically sand is just crushed up rocks, so would that mean you could move rocks with enough training? How much weight can you lift with the sand? Can you apply force through the sand to crush things? Is there a limit to how much sand you can move at once?” Midoriya muttered out. There was so much he wanted to ask since the last time they talked. Gaara waited until the bush had stopped talking. Gaara didn’t feel like talking much, or answering at all. However, he knew that it would be quicker to just answer the questions now, rather than be bombarded with them later.

“I find it relatively easy to move sand. For the most part, it is instinctive and comes naturally. I usually have to infuse sand with my energy, or be in contact with it in order to have complete control over it… though there are some times in which I am just able to control it. _ **(*cough* *cough* Shukaku *cough* *cough*)**_ I don’t think I can move plain rocks, but I’ve never tried… and I don’t think I will. I don’t know how much I can lift, but it has to do with how much sand I can weild. I can crush some objects. And I haven’t found any limit to how much sand I can move at once.” Gaara went through each question and answered plainly. He found it tiresome to answer so many questions, and there were many things he never thought about. He never thought he would need to think about lifting rocks. Gaara was just glad that he had answered the questions in one go, and he could finish his meal in peace. Midoriya had other plans.

“So you can lift more sand than you did during the trial and quirk assessment?” Midoriya asked, full of wonder. Uraraka and Iida had also been listening, intrigued by the boy’s simple but strong quirk. Gaara mentally sighed, now realizing what he had done. Midoriya opened his mouth to continue his barrage of questions when the lunch bell rang, signifying the end of their discussion. Gaara was the first one up, eager to leave. “Oh! Lunch is over, I guess I kind of talked your ears off, sorry about that” Midoriya said scratching his head bashfully. 

“You’ll join us tomorrow, right? I’ll try to get Deku to keep the questions to a minimum.” Uraraka joked. Gaara began to hope she followed through with what she said as he gave a defeated nod. He wasn’t sure which was worse. The three friends or his siblings and their three friends. 

The three got up and together they all started making their way back to their classroom. As they chattered Gaara was starting to think that Shukaku was right and he should have grabbed his gourd this morning, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. If anything happened, he just would have to rely on the sand that was on his person constantly. 

_“So maybe you should listen to me more often, huh?”_ Shukaku jibed.

_“Possibly”_ Gaara said begrudgingly.

_“So I, the one who is always right, is telling you it would be a good idea to let me out.”_

_“No.”_ Gaara said definitively. Shukaku dropped the subject knowing he wouldn’t get any farther at the moment. 

They reached the classroom and went their separate ways. Aizawa was standing in the front of the classroom ready to go for once when the bell rang. 

“Today’s training will be a little different. Me, All Might and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you.” Aizawa said. _**(This is actually what he says in the dub version of the show, even though it is grammatically incorrect.)**_

“What type of training is it?” The electric blond asked. 

“Rescue training. This-“ Aizawa said, Gaara started to wonder why he would have a bad feeling over rescue training and tuned Aizawa out. Gaara’s train of thought was interrupted as the rest of the class started talking excitedly over something Aizawa said. Suddenly, racks with briefcase-like things came out of the walls. 

“...We will be taking a bus to get there as it is off site.” Aizawa finished. With this said, all of the students except Gaara and Midoriya went to go get the numbered briefcase things. Midoriya walked up to Gaara.

“You're not going to wear your hero costume either?” The green bush asked. Gaara shook his head. “Should we go put on our gym uniform?” 

“I guess.” Gaara said. They walked to the locker rooms and had begun changing. Unlike when he usually changed, Gaara did not create his sand wall. Despite having a lot of energy, he didn’t want to risk wasting any of it. So, Gaara was left to change like most people did. While he was lifting his shirt over his head, his hair was pushed up. Midoriya caught a glimpse of a red mark on Gaara’s forehead, but he wasn’t close enough to see what it was. Not feeling comfortable enough to ask, the two changed in silence. As they were finishing up everyone else started to walk in. They walked out and waited with Aizawa outside the bus. 

Once everyone was outside, Iida started blowing a whistle to get everyone’s attention. Once he saw the inside of the bus, however, the whistling stopped. Half of the bus was open with seats on the sides, and the other half was rows of seats. Gaara went to the back of the bus and sat down. Everyone came in and started talking. Gaara did his best to ignore the chatter, but he was forced to glance up when he heard his name mentioned. However, he seemed to have only picked up the last part of the bit, as the students turned their discussion to a kid named Bakugo. So, Gaara found himself thinking about the growing feeling.

_“If it’s really bothering you that much, you could always let me out,”_ Shukaku spoke up. Gaara narrowed his eyes.

_“I’m not worried. I would have liked to have been more prepared, but I’ll have to be strong enough to handle myself even without my gourd.”_ Gaara admitted. Shukaku snickered, and acted as if he was going to speak again, but yelling interrupted him.

“You’re going to regret the day you applied to this school, you loser! I’ll kill you!” The shouting only grew as more joined in.

“Enough! Classmates should encourage each other,” Iida cut in, as if it would help.

“I’m gonna encourage this dumbass to explode!” Bakugo shouted back. Gaara decided it wasn’t worth his time to listen, and turned his head towards the window, trying to block out the noise. However, within just a few moments, Aizawa piped up.

“Hey, hey. We’re here, stop messing around. ” he said plainly. They all exited the bus and entered a huge domed building. 

“Hello everyone! I’ve been waiting for you.” A woman in a large suit said kindly. 

Midoriya then begins to fangirl about the woman, saying her hero name is Thirteen. 

“I can’t wait to show you what is inside!” She said. 

“This is going to be awesome!” Almost everyone said in unison. As the class walked in, they could see the different segments that the building was divided into. 

“A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, ect.” Thirteen started, “I created this training facility to prepare you for different types of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but you can call it the USJ!” 

While everyone was chattering, Aizawa started taking to Thirteen about something. She then started to explain what her quirk was and how it worked, which Gaara had no interest in. She did mention that quirks could be deadly and Shukaku started to laugh. Everyone cheered and it looked like it was time to start. The lights suddenly went out and a strange purple portal showed up in the center of the area.

Aizawa started giving instructions, but Gaara was distracted by the same blue haired person he saw yesterday coming out of the portal along with a lot of others.

“This is real, those are villains.” Aizawa said gravely as he positioned himself in front of his students. Everyone started asking questions about how this was possible. 

“Is the entire campus under attack, or is this their only target? Either way, if the alarm sensors haven’t been triggered, then one of these villains must have a quirk that is masking their presence here. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught. They are fools for trespassing here. But they thought this out. Whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind, but what is it?” Todoroki theorized. That was the most anyone had heard him talk. 

“Thirteen, get them out of here and alert the campus. Actually, if they’ve got the ability to block our sensors, then they might be jamming our regular communications too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to try and contact the school.” Aizawa directed.

The green bush then proceeded to tell Aizawa that he couldn’t fight all of the villains and Aizawa shut him down.

“I’ll leave it to you, Thirteen.” He said and jumped toward the villains. Thirteen started to usher the students toward the entrance when a strange purple mass popped up in front of them and started to creatively tell them why he was here, explaining his entire purpose basically. The angry pomeranian moved to attack the blob and so did the red haired boy that was always with him. This only caused the villain to engulf all of the students in the purple portal stuff and they started to disappear. 

Gaara felt himself falling and used his sand to stop himself before he hit the ground. There was a lot of dirt and other material covering buildings that were under various stages of destruction. After getting his bearings, Gaara looked around and saw Todoroki. 

“So the plan was to scatter us then kill us. You were woefully unprepared. In fact it looks to me as though you’ve had no training. You haven’t the slightest idea how to use your quirks.” 

_“Savage.”_ Shukaku said with admiration, _“I think this kid and I could get along.”_ Gaara sighed and saw that Todoroki had frozen all of the villains around them. 

“Listen well, if you stay frozen your cells will slowly die as your body succumbs to frostbite and hypothermia.” Todoroki began.

_“Yessss, kill them all!!!”_ Shukaku cheered.

“Luckily for you, I want to be a hero, so I would like to avoid any unnecessary cruelty.” Todoroki continued.

“Wait nevermind, we wouldn't get along and he was doing so well too.” Shukaku whined. Gaara sensed that he had this handled so he turned his attention to where the aura he sought out yesterday was coming from. Near the blue haired person was a disturbing and unnatural aura that caused Gaara to shudder. “I have never felt anything like that, I don’t think we should go over there, Gaara.” Shukaku said. Gaara had never heard Shukaku be that serious before but he started combing the area around for a good place to appear and found a place where there were many villains, but their auras showed that they were unconscious. 

Closing his eyes, he visualized where he was going and slowly he opened his eyes to find himself looking at a mess. There were passed out villains, yes, but he also saw Aizawa fighting some very lively villains. Including the blue haired one.

_“That scarf thing is way cool. You need one of those.”_ Shukaku admired. 

Gaara agreed that his style of fighting was very intriguing. The blue haired villain seemed to be gaining the upper hand as he watched, but then Aizawa kneed him in the stomach. However, he suddenly jumped back seemingly in pain. The unnatural aura suddenly grew stronger and a strange humongous purple thing with its brain exposed appeared alongside Aizawa. It attacked Aizawa’s eyes and he fell to the ground, yellow eye mask lying next to him. The thing continued attacking Aizawa and the purple portal suddenly appeared next to the blue haired guy. 

Gaara got a strange feeling in his chest watching the ‘battle’. Gaara shook his head as the blue man started to move and suddenly stopped looking back at Aizawa. Gaara decided to jump in the battle as his chest got tighter.

_“It looks like you’ve got a case of the feels. I still don’t think fighting this thing is a good idea, but I guess we can still get a good fight out of it. We haven’t had one in forever, I’ve forgotten what it feels like...of course if he does die you could get his scarf…”_ Shukaku said suggestively. 

Aizawa got ready for the villain to make contact with his body when a sand wall blocked the villain’s path. 

A sigh was heard above the wall. Aizawa felt sand around him and what little he could see went dark. “Just stay still. I can hold their attention longer than you can right now.” 


	32. The Creative Process(aka: a huge mess)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well hello. Thank you guys so much for reading! We wanted to share a bit of what we put eachother through as we are writing at like 12 am or 2 AM... thanks again for taking this journey with us.

Sometimes we know what we want to happen, but it is just not working. This ends up being very interesting and usually the one writing lets the other try and fix their mess.

I never had a lot to do at mi casa, my sister started to teach me to read before our dad found out, so I took it from there and they let me read their textbooks and any other book they could find for me. It would never be enough cause I would read it quickly.”  
“Reading the textbook once is all you need to do to score so high”

“I have photographic memory cause the writers made me a god.” (chapt 20)

We usually make a rough outline before we start a scene to map out the main points of where we want and it is a very big mess... but somehow we both understand it.

So he needs to be like why you be here and not leaving. I dont wanna. ok but you have to . no. wait what is that aura. it be kinda intresting. jumps out window, tries to find Shigaraki, fails, sees nezu and Aizawa at gate (I think there is someone else but) be like nezu there was a strange man with weird aura he be like I know. Its weird, what are you doing out here. (Chapt 27)

We are very random and often exhausted when writing so things like this happen often.

“It’s a me, a Mirio! Wahoo!” (chapt 21)

(knowing what you want to write) I know but how *squinty crying face* 

The response: Urm… *the shrugging emoji*…. Writing is hard, thinking is hard.  
(Chapt 27)

Autocorrect really doesn't like us... it often finishes words before we are done so we end up going off on tangents.

Unfortunately, the bell did not save Gaara. Midoriya walked up to him, “Are you alluring Gaara?” Um…………………does autocorrect think this is a MidoGaar or something? Hold on I can fix this. “Cause I think you are drawing in that pretty boy next to you.” Todoroki looked up in surprise and blushed looking away from Gaara and Midoryia. “I don’t think so? What is that even supposed to mean?” Todoroki realized what Midoriya was about to do and motioned for him to stop, it was too late. “I forgot you are dense. Todoroki is in love with you.” :) ;) XD   
(Chapt 27)

One of us: “I am not knowing what to say cause the periodontal... auto correct is broken just like the typist’s mind.” Does the other one know what to say?

The other: But ya know what isn’t broken? Gaara! Why? Cause he’s only damaged!

(Chapt 27)

Sometimes you just don't know how to start.

After they all got home, The cactus rose from the dead and ate Kankuro. Gaara started to make sandcastles, Temari was yelling, Aizawa was in the corner sleeping, and Yamada was jumping on the bed.   
(Chapt 28)

When you are Tamaki but you have to figure out how to write a character that is more social then you.

“I got to channel my inner Deku and not my inner Tamaki here…”  
(Chapt 29)


	33. Chapter 30 ~ Gaara Lee

The blue haired villain let out a strange laugh, that was something between nervousness and annoyance. “Nomu, get rid of him.” He said, scratching at his neck. 

The thing that the man called a Nomu seemed to heed what he had said and suddenly lurched towards Gaara at a seemingly impossible speed. As a reflex, Gaara threw up a sand wall to protect himself and braced for an attack. The Nomu burst through the sand wall like it was nothing. Thankfully, Gaara had already started to lunge out of the way, so when the Nomu attacked him, it only connected with Gaara’s left shoulder. Gaara felt his bone pop out of his socket and the sharp pain intensified as he landed on the ground. 

The Nomu was quick to react to the change in direction and lashed out with its left hand and smashed into Gaara’s stomach. Gaara instinctively curled up and coughed up blood. Gaara infused the sand on his body with all of his remaining strength to protect himself the best he could. He did not have a plan going into this, and it was very hard to fight with the limited amount of sand he had. His supply was being further depleted by the sand dome around Aizawa. 

With the support of the sand Gaara stood up, narrowing his eyes he raised his hand and summoned his sand to a thin spear-like shape. With a flick of his wrist, the sand went spiraling into the Nomu. Once it entered its body, he spread his fingers apart and the sand dispersed from the point of entry. 

The Nomu stumbled back and fell to the ground as its body began to regenerate and push out the foreign material. Gaara fell to the ground. His attack had caused him to use all of the energy he had left. Gaara fought against everything in him as his consciousness began to fade. He knew that the moment he gave in, and closed his eyes, his body would no longer be in his control. 

_“Rest Gaara,”_ Shukaku whispered, _“I’ll take care of things from here.”_

Gaara tried to object, but it was no use. His eyes rolled back into his head and he faintly heard a high pitched voice scream smash and another boom that shook the ground. Gaara lost his control and he felt Shukaku slip into the front of his mind. He could no longer hear anything that was going on around him, nor could he fight back. As Shukaku raised his body off the ground, Gaara saw the dome he had made and suddenly had an idea. He pulled the energy back and the sand retreated to Gaara’s body for Shukaku to control while the energy went back to him. 

With this energy, Gaara was able to kick Shukaku out of control and regain his body. He collapsed back to the ground as his body was no longer feeding off of Shukaku. He did not stay there for long, however, as he was scooped up by All Might. 

“Take Aizawa and Gaara and head back to the entrance,” All Might said, “Go!” In Gaara’s state he could only be annoyed as he was grabbed by yet another pair of hands. This time it was the frog girl. 

Midoriya had Aizawa and after talking to All Might they were on their way. Gaara used this time to talk to Shukaku. 

_“I told you not to take control. You didn’t listen to me. You wanted me to be weakened to the point you could take control. I could have done much better in that fight if you would have only helped me instead of fulfilling your own agenda.”_ Gaara said. He felt himself being set on the ground again as the people around him began to talk. He couldn’t fully understand, he really wasn’t completely grounded, but it ended with Midoriya leaving. 

“Gaara, ribit,” the frog started, “can you hear me?” Gaara blinked twice in response. She continued, “We can only carry one person between us, and Aizawa needs help urgently, so we are going to take him back and get help, ok?” 

Gaara blinked twice again, and watched them leave. Shukaku surprisingly had not said anything in response to what Gaara said. He felt strange because of the silence in his head that wasn’t filled with banter. He contemplated what his life was coming to as he lay in the dirt, unable to do much else but wait.


	34. Chapter 31 ~ Is This How It's Told Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This got a little more dark then we intended but... it is what it is? We love any questions or thoughts! We explain an injury but neither of us have medical experience so it really isn't that accurate... but there is a wound described. Anyways... enjoy!

When they finally found Gaara, he was in the midst of building a city out of sand, with his hands of course because he was drained. The pros were taken aback by the ‘threat’ they had been warned about playing with the weapon that was his sand. 

Upon seeing his husband unconscious, Hizashi was just about to accompany him to the hospital until he saw that Gaara was not among the students at the gate. This led to him frantically asking until Tsu and Mineta said that they set him down while struggling to carry Aizawa to help. He sprinted as fast as he possibly could in the direction they pointed, two other pros scrambling to follow just in case. 

“GAARA!!” Yamada shouted after a moment of shock, “ARE YOU OK?” Gaara looked at him with eyes that said ‘ _are you serious_ ’ and continued to build his sand city. Yamada quickly assessed the boy and saw that Gaara’s left arm was hanging loosely to the side and he was bleeding pretty badly. He was also jerking occasionally. “Definitely not ok, got it…” Yamada said softer, gaining his composure. He wasn’t sure if it would be ok to pick the boy up but he obviously could not walk by himself and his classmates did say they were carrying him so he hesitantly moved closer. “Ok...Gaara I am going to have to pick you up now?” He said like it was a question. 

Gaara stared blankly at him. He just wanted to build his city, he felt fine so he really did not see a reason for him to move right now, much less be picked up. 

Yamada drew closer and he felt something beneath his boot. He looks down to see one of Gaara’s buildings now crushed. He looks up to see Gaara staring daggers at him now. ‘ _If looks could kill, I would be more than six feet under right now_.’ The sand that was that building started stirring only to go deathly still. Gaara started to sway back and forth, ‘ _I feel strange...no I can’t pass out…’_ he thought as Yamada finally decided just to pick him up. The motion brought him back to reality in a way and Gaara suddenly felt really sad for some reason and started tearing up. Yamada gasped in surprise as Gaara made grabby hands toward his sand city as he was carried away and what sounded like tears hitting his jacket made him believe that the boy was crying. ‘ _I think I may have underestimated the seriousness of his injury… or I am having a weird dream.’_ Yamada thought to himself as he continued to run toward the entrance.

Gaara saw a lot of people, most of whom he did not recognize. Yamada saw the pros leading the kids to one side to count them and he just ignored that and headed to the door to get Gaara to Recovery Girl as fast as possible, only slowing slightly to yell out that Gaara is accounted for. The loud noise and the unfamiliar faces caused Gaara to bury his head into Yamada’s shoulder. The victim grew with concern as he realized the ‘don’t touch me or die’ teen was more like a child at the moment. 

Yamada continued toward his goal with vigor. “Hey, everything is going to be alright, ok?” Yamada said softly to Gaara. The only way Yamada could tell the boy had actually heard him was the boy hugging tighter to him. 

Yamada burst into Recovery Girl’s office panting. “Just what do you think you are doing running into my office like that, you’re-“ Recovery Girl started only to see Gaara’s arm, “Come and put him on a bed.” She finished, moving to collect the things that she would need to treat him, for judging by his state, she could not use her quirk very much, if at all. 

She started to examine his condition and her suspicion was confirmed. The boy was in very rough shape. The boy’s arm was fractured and dislocated to the point where his skin had torn away from the point of impact. He was also exhausted, most likely from over use of his quirk and his lack of sleep judging by his eye bags. She was very surprised that the boy had not passed out yet, _‘he must have a very strong will’_ she thought to herself.

“So is he going to be alright, he is fine right I got him here as fast as possible, I-“ Yamada panicked. 

“Shush, you sound like one of my regular patients. You are also upsetting the boy.” Recovery Girl said exasperated. Yamada looked at Gaara, who seemed to be tearing up again. “I think we need to get this boy to the hospital, I can’t do what he needs here with the equipment I have. I am going to stop the bleeding,” She looked to Gaara, “You look like you are going to pass out, can you lie back for me?” Gaara started to shake his head violently.

“Can’t pass out...bad… that would be…. bad.” Gaara struggled out but fell backward unwillingly because of the effort.

Recovery Girl looked questionaly at Yamada. “His other quirk takes over if he is unconscious.” Yamada answered with more control. Recovery Girl nodded with understanding having been informed. “He needs to go to the hospital!?” Yamada suddenly caught the other part of what she said, “Ok...ok I will call and inform them that we need another ambulance.” Yamada said after collecting his thoughts. 

“Another?” Recovery Girl questioned as she worked on Gaara, then moving to her cabinet with a satisfied nod. 

“Shota… um… he was injured… I don’t know anything else about it.” Yamada said, his voice breaking as he dialed. 

“Shota is strong, I am sure he will be just fine Hizashi.” She glanced over at Gaara, “I have an idea for the boy, I can give him a sedative that will make it unable for his limbs to move, even if he is not in control, and make it possible for him to get him some rest.” 

“Yes, UA…ok we will head to the entrance as soon as possible.” Yamada hung up. “That would be amazing, I think. I don’t know how, but the little listener has not slept since he came to our house.” ( _ **Anime logic**_ ) Yamada moved closer to Gaara and squatted down so that they were level with each other. “You are going to be safe, ok? We are just going to give you something to make you feel better.” Yamada did not want to have to explain the sedative at the moment, because he could tell that with each passing moment Gaara drew ever closer to slipping unconscious and he was afraid of what would happen next. 

Gaara only blinked in response for he was devoting all of his energy into staying awake. Recovery Girl brought a syringe up to Gaara’s arm and gave him the sedative. As soon as the substance entered Gaara’s bloodstream he began to panic as the desire to sleep became even more prominent. Yamada and Recovery Girl restrained him to keep him from further injury, which led to him struggling more before he faded away. 


	35. Chapter 32 ~ The Shukaku Sez Hai

Yamada grabbed Gaara and Recovery Girl followed him with more gauze in case the wound started to bleed again. “Hey Chiyo?” Yamada asked softly as they walked down the stairs.

“Hm?” She responded.

“Will he be alright?” 

“He sounds tough, just like Shota. He should be just fine.” Chiyo responded. Yamada gave a nervous laugh.

“Ya know what he was doing when I found him?” Yamada asked rhetorically, “He was building sand buildings. I thought he was going to kill me when I stepped on one. He usually is so serious but he was building sandcastles, and he never shows any emotion but he cried today, I just… I don’t know… I think he is really hurt.” 

“When he came to the school,” Chiyo started, “His file was put on my desk to read. I could be wrong here but the way he was acting today was probably a way for his mind to rest from everything. He doesn’t sleep, which is extremely unhealthy, he didn’t really have a childhood, he was bleeding out and trying to keep in control of his own body. His mind has probably developed coping mechanisms that no one knows about and he may not even be aware of. We can talk about this at a later date, the ambulance is here. Don’t worry so much about it, and take care of the boys, ok?” Yamada nodded and turned his attention to the paramedics, whom he handed Gaara over to reluctantly. Chiyo spoke to the paramedics and gave them the rundown on what was going on with Gaara. 

“Sir?” One of the paramedics asked, “Can you contact his family? Usually the hospital does that but given the situation, the school may be faster.” 

“Um… yes. I can do that.” Yamada said hesitantly. 

“Alright, we are ready to go,” a voice called from the front of the ambulance. They drove off and Recovery Girl and Yamada headed back inside. 

“Oh...OH THE TWINS!!!” Yamada suddenly remembered, now fearing for his life. Before he could worry about them however, he had to do something else first. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number for the closest hospital. 

“Hello, how can we help you?” The voice on the other end said.

“Did you receive an Aizawa Shota?” Yamada asked, his voice shaking. 

“Who is asking?” Was the response.

“Oh, Yamada Hizashi, his husband.” Yamada replied. He could hear clicking and then the voice responded again.

“Yes, we did.” 

“Is he… ok?” Yamada asked fearfully, trying to hold it together.

“Yes, he is stable and mostly awake. The notes say he is very grumpy. He is in room 309 on the fourth floor.” They replied.

“Thank you.” Yamada breathed and hung up. Chiyo was still there surprisingly. 

“So?” She asked.

“He is grumpy,” Yamada let out a laugh, “so he is fine, I think.” Chiyo chuckled and started to head back to her office to treat the people that she KNEW would be there before she turned around.

“What is this about twins that got you so excited.” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well… the twins are Gaara’s siblings… and seeing as how their brother is now in the hospital…” Yamada’s voice faded out, before he shook his head. “They might just kill me if they hear about it from anyone else! At least if I tell them Kankuro might not kill me. Temari on the other hand,” Yamada decided not to finish that thought.

“Temari and Kankuro Kazakage?” Chiyo suddenly made the connection. She had seen the name on Gaara’s file of course but she thought nothing of it. Kazekage was not a common last name and she should have made the connection sooner. Yamada frantically nodded, fear now washing over him.

“Yeah! They’re such nice kids until you make them angry! Although Kankuro’s a little odd, they’re still nice. But they are so protective of their brother! Just him being upset is enough to set Temari off, let alone the thought of him being in the hospital!” With every word, Yamada felt his death becoming more and more imminent.

“Oh, and how do you know so much about them and a brother that supposedly didn’t exist?” Chiyo said knowing she had him. There were rumors going around about the couple and them being seen with kids, but she NEVER believed in rumors. Yamada felt his fear transfer from Temari to Aizawa. He remembered them having a conversation about the kids staying with them, and how it needed to be kept quiet until it was finalized. Yamada hadn’t understood why, but would keep his promise to Aizawa.

“Um, well…” Yamada struggled to find the words. “Shota was tasked to keep an eye on Gaara due to his unstable quirk… So we’ve spent some time with the three,” Yamada managed to come up with.

“Mhm. Sure… The only reason I am letting you slide is because you need to get to the hospital and apparently to the twins.” Chiyo said with a smirk, having gotten what she wanted. She now turned away and continued to head to her office.

**_~~~ Brought to you by Shukaku’s inner thoughts ~~~_ **

  
Ectoplasm who was teaching math to class 3-A received a message on his school phone that he was needed immediately at the USJ facility; there had been a villain attack. “Um… I need to go”, he said grabbing his jacket and starting out the door, “There has been a situation at the USJ with class 1-A, Mirio, you are in charge of keeping everyone in the classroom.” Mirio nodded in confirmation and stood up, knowing that with that, there would definitely be resistance from two members in the class. 

Sure enough, as soon as the teacher left, Temari and Kankuro immediately stood up making their way towards Mirio. “You heard what Mr. Ectoplasm said guys,” Mirio started knowing that he was going to let them go if they wanted, but he couldn’t just say that.

“We just uh… need to go to the bathroom.” Kankuro said nervously.

“Seriously. That is the best you can come up with Kankuro?” Came Nejire’s voice from behind them. 

“Please, we need to make sure Gaara is okay, he is our family, I-“ Temari said pleadingly breaking down in front of them. 

“I know Temari, I wasn’t going to stop you,” Mirio said with a smile. The rest of the class listened in curiosity peaking. They did not know exactly what was going and who Gaara was but they supported Temari and Kankuro. 

“Just don’t get caught.” Jiraiya said from the back, “We will cover for ya.” He said with a smile and a nod. Nejire suddenly ran forward and tackled Temari and Kankuro in a big hug. With that, Temari and Kankuro shot a quick thank you back at the class and then ran out the door. 

They really did not know where the USJ was so they just started heading down to the entrance of the school. It took them a while to get there and then they realized they could just follow the teachers in the vehicles ahead. They started to follow on foot until eventually a bus was headed in their direction. “So much for not getting caught,” Kankuro sighed as they began to flag the bus down. 

Strangely the bus stopped. **_(You would think that when there was an attack that they would be more suspicious… but plot)_** The doors open and Temari rushes up and unleashes a slew of questions. 

“What happened? Who are you? Is Gaara on this bus? Is-“ Kankuro put his hand over her mouth to give the kids on the bus a chance to answer. This resulted in Kankuro being injured but they also got information.

“Hey, you are Gaara’s sister, Temari right?” The bubbly girl that was introduced as Gaara’s friend spoke up. 

“Yes! And you are… Uraraka? Is he alright, I don’t see him here?” Temari Fuji.

“There was a… villain attack. I’m not sure where Gaara is, Present Mic ran by carrying him, I think he was headed back to the school.” Uraraka said carefully. Temari sank to the floor of the bus. 

“Um…” said the bus driver who was also the pro hero and teacher Snipe who was sent with the class in case there were any villains. “I am going to drive you back to the school now. You will get there faster that way and I know that is where you are supposed to be anyways.” Kankuro and Temari nodded and Kankuro helped Temari up from the bus floor and they went to sit in an empty seat that happened to be near Uraraka. The twins sat in silence holding onto each other's hands so tight that their knuckles were white. They could not lose their baby brother. 

When they had first sat down, Uraraka's plan was to talk to them, but seeing their faces she let them sit and glared at anyone that tried to talk to them. 

It felt like an eternity to the twins, but they soon arrived back at the main campus. As soon as they stopped they stood up and went to the closed bus doors. Snipe was going to hold them, but seeing the desperate looks in their eyes he opened the doors silently and they ran out, towards Recovery Girls office.

They pushed open the door to Recovery Girl's office and stumbled in panting. She looked up at them and her two patients and guest stopped their conversation to look up. "Where… Gaara… where is… Gaara." Kankuro asked breathlessly. 

"Yamada is looking for you two, you should find him." Recovery Girl said, being mindful of what Yamada said earlier.

"No, where is Gaara." Temari asked but it was more of a statement as she looked entered into a staring contest with her. Recovery Girl sighed.

"Sit down." She instructed, "Gaara will be fine. He was just injured and exhausted so I gave him something so he could sleep SAFELY she emphasized and we, Yamada and I, sent him to the hospital." 

**_~~~_ **

Meanwhile, Yamada was on a wild goose chase. He had went to the class 3-A room to no avail, the twins were nowhere to be seen and when he asked, he was told they were both in the bathroom. He didn't feel like questioning the information so he went to the closet bathrooms on the floor only not to find them. 

  
He ran into a student who said that he had saw the twins in the cafeteria when he had walked past. Yamada ran down to the cafeteria to find it empty. His school phone started to ring and he picked up. 

"Have you ever wanted to put a GPS locator on kids?" He said as a greeting as he sat at a lunch table tired from physical work and the emotional turmoil he was going through.

"Yes. But I have found the twins. They are in my office." Chiyo said with both amusement and stress. "Please hurry. I know what you mean now." She hung up.

' _She told them. Great._ ' Yamada thought bleakly as he stood up and started running again, ' _I am so dead_.' 

**_~~~_ **

  
Darkness. The first thing the unconscious Gaara noticed. He soon began to note other things, everything being very distant-seeming. He could see his unconscious body, laying in some kind of teal bed, his pale eyes shut. Upon that sight, he knew he must have somehow fallen asleep. Fear and panic quickly responded, as he tried to wake up. It was only after a few moments of unsuccessful attempts did he realize that Shukaku was not controlling his body. It was just resting. Something he never thought possible. Slowly calming back down, Gaara turned his attention away from his body, and instead to the familiar void a mental projection of him was in. Sand flowed beneath him, being the only light in the endless pit of darkness. It was a place he had gone before, but was never really fond of it. Despite this, he decided to allow the sand to carry him along the path. To the only other living thing in the void. Shukaku.

He found himself facing the giant sand tanaki, which looked down at him with crazed yellow eyes.

“Hello there, Gaara. As you already know, neither of us are in control right now, so we can have a… chat in neutral territory… even though it really isn’t neutral.” Shukaku said sassily. Gaara rolled his eyes and sat cross legged in front of Shukaku.

“Just what do you want to talk about.” Gaara said shortly. 

“Well for one, we should start with what you had last said,” Shukaku snarkily said, with narrowed eyes.

“What did I say, exactly.” Gaara said, deciding to string him along. Shukaku couldn’t help but let out a frustrated growl. He hated himself that it was bothering him as much as it was.

“You accused me of trying to kill everyone!” Shukaku shouted out, barely managing to get right to the point.

“No, I just spoke the truth.” Gaara said bluntly. The sand around the two began to get more violent, as the emotionally-unstable raccoon-beast grew ever so furious.

“I may enjoy getting out and having fun but that doesn’t mean all I care about is killing innocents… no matter how enjoyable that might be.” Shukaku poorly attempted to defend himself.

“Uh huh…” Gaara said disbelievingly, “and just what else do you care about?” Shukaku grew dangerously quiet, the sand seeming to just pause in the air as the tension grew. After just a few moments the sand exploded outward as Shukaku found himself growing angrier by the moment. He was finding that the conversation was only going to worsen his anger. He cries out in fury and frustration, his claws gripping his head. The sand suddenly stopped again when Gaara raised a hand and shot a glance at Shukaku. 

“Urrgggg! It’s-” Shukaku struggled with the words, seemingly fighting himself more than anything, and merely taking his anger out on the poor boy who watched in confusion. “You- You Idiot!” He finally cried out, unable to come up with any other explanation.

“Me? Why would you care about…” Gaara started very confused, “No. You don’t care about me. You just want control over me.” Shukaku couldn’t take it any longer. He felt himself rushing to cover up his mistake and yet his mind was so full of frustration that all he wanted was to either kill, which he knew was out of the question, or be alone. He didn’t want to even look at Gaara, since it only reminded him of what he was trying to ignore.

“No! I was calling you an idiot!” Shukaku quickly managed out. “Now leave!” Shukaku angrily growled. Shukaku’s anger had only grown since they started. And despite feeling unfazed himself, Gaara felt the mental place seem to fade, as if he was being pulled out. He was sure that the drug he must have been given would have lasted longer. He could only assume it was Shukaku’s doing. Gaara faded back into the dark abyss devoid of light.


	36. Chapter 33 ~ Is it Made of Crimson Tears

Yamada had never ran so fast in his life. His heart was pounding, and his lunges burned. Everything told him he should slow down, but all he could think about was getting to Chiyo’s office as fast as humanly possible. He knew that getting there fast wouldn’t actually save him, and yet he still ran with long, quick strides. He was riding on the slim chance of Temari and Kankuro’s want to see their brother would be more prominent than the one to kill him. Yamada couldn’t die yet! He needed to smother his husband in a hug! He wanted to be an official father first! Only then would he be okay with dying. 

Yamada reached Chiyo’s office and opened her door reluctantly. He was greeted with the sight of Temari and Kankuro sitting on an empty bed in tears. They stood up and fast walked over to him.

“Let’s go.” Kankuro said quietly. Yamada was surprised, but he should have realized that Gaara was more important to them than any anger. Somehow they all found the energy to sprint to Yamada’s car. Once they were safely on their way and regained the ability to breath, Kankuro broke the silence, “Aizawa’s hurt too?” Yamada looked in his mirror at him.

“Did Ch-Recovery Girl tell you that?” Yamada asked.

“Yeah. He is okay, right?” Kankuro questioned.

“Gaara was doing well when he was put in the ambulance and Shota was fine when I called.” Yamada responded, knowing that Kankuro did not want to know just about Shota. 

They drove in silence for a while before Yamada’s ringtone sounded. Yamada picked up. “Hello, this is Yamada Hizashi speaking.”

“This is Fluorescent Hills Hospital, you are one of the names listed on Gaara’s contact list.” The person said. Yamada was confused, hadn’t the paramedics said for him to contact his family? Oh well. 

“Yes! Do you have any news?” Yamada asked hurriedly.

“Yes, he is seemingly stable. The doctor would like to talk to you when you are able to arrive concerning his condition.” They replied and hung up. _**(**_ ** _A lot of not named characters are quite rude in this story… and unprofessional… but plot?)_** Yamada sighed with relief that he was stable, but started to worry about what the doctor could want to talk about.

“Was that about Gaara?” Kankuro asked. 

“Yes! He is stable!” Yamada exclaimed. You could feel the tension leaving the car. Now that they knew that he was safe, he was expecting them to blow up, but nothing happened. They arrived at the hospital and went up to the front desk. “Hello, we are here for Gaa- urr… Kazekage Gaara. I am Yamada Hizashi and these are his siblings. What room is he in?” 

“Oh yes. He is in room 234 on the third floor. I will alert the doctor you are here.” The secretary at the desk said bored. The group began to rush to the elevators before Yamada rushed back to the desk.

“Aizawa Shota is still in room 309?” Yamada asked. The nurse searched her computer.

“Yes.” They responded and he joined the twins waiting for the elevator. The three of them stood in silence as they waited, the digital display above the doors counting down. The elevator let out a beep as the doors slowly opened up, with two other people exiting. Yamada, Temari, and Kankuro then stepped on, Kankuro closest to the controls. The twins looked at Yamada with uncertainty as Kankuro’s finger hovered above the button for the third floor. “Who are we going to see first, Yamada?” Kankuro asked hesitantly. 

“I am pretty sure that Shota would kill me if we didn’t make sure Gaara was alright first and the doctor wants to talk to me. Besides! You guys need to see your brother!” Yamada clapped his hands together in front of him and held them there. Kankuro’s response was to press his finger down. The elevator stopped at the second floor for a nurse to get in. She did not push a button so they assumed she was also going to the third floor. They rode in silence until the elevator dinged again, signaling that they had arrived on the third floor. 

Temari and Kankuro shot out of the elevator only to remember themselves and started walking with feigned normalcy. To the group it felt like a year before they reached the room where Gaara was resting. Temari entered the room as silently as possible since Gaara had never really been hurt before and she didn’t know how he would react. Kankuro waits in the doorway as if not knowing what to do. Yamada looked over his shoulder into the room. 

The room was a mess. Sand laid in rings around the hospital bed where Gaara seemed to be sleeping peacefully. While Yamada wasn’t quite sure what had happened, Temari and Kankuro had a pretty good idea. They had seen it happen before, and whenever the red-haired bean tried to sleep. Shukaku had always been a constant threat, never allowing the boy to rest without fear of being possessed. The only thing that didn’t add up was the fact that Gaara was still asleep, and the sand was just laying on the ground, perfectly still. The twins couldn’t help but wonder what might have caused the beast to give up. Could it have been the drug that was given? Just as their speculations grew, a nurse waiting behind Kankuro and Yamada clears her throat. The three turned to face her, and quickly moved out of the way, assuming she was there to check on Gaara.

“Oh, my apologies,” Yamada said. Despite the path having been cleared, the nurse didn’t show any signs of moving.

“I don’t suggest going in there,” she said ominously.

“And why is that?” Yamada questioned. He knew it had to have had something to do with the sand in the room, but he decided to play along anyways. The nurse’s eyes went dull as she recalled the event.

“That sand… It came out of nowhere… It was so… Everything about it just seemed awful from the start… It circled the boy for a few moments, before suddenly dropping to the ground.” The nurse spoke with fear. She then shuddered and asked “Are you his family?” Yamada hesitated, despite wanting to nod his head. Temari and Kankuro, on the other hand, wasted no time in nodding. “Very well, I will go get the doctor,” the nurse stated before turning around and walking off.

Silence once again descended on the group as they all looked at Gaara. When the nurse had left, Yamada and Kankuro had walked into the room and now the three were around his bedside. Temari was the first to speak. “It’s kinda nice seeing him sleeping for once, I have never seen him look so vulnerable.” Yamada looked at her. 

“So you haven’t seen him sleep? Not even once?” Yamada asked. This time it was Kankuro who answered.

“He never sleeps, we guess that why he never just collapses is because of force of sheer will. We have seen him give in to his exhaustion once… “ Kankuro trailed off, “I hate that he got injured but looking at him, he looks so… carefree.” He looked at Gaara before continuing, “It is just so strange, sure he is sick a lot but he has never gotten so much as a paper cut.” 

“Oh? How has he not been hurt before? Especially this one… he seems like he searches and attracts trouble.” Yamada asked.

“His skin is usually covered in sand, it is weird… you can’t tell the difference between the sand and his skin and I am guessing that is where the sand is from that is on the floor.” Kankuro said gesturing to the rings of sand, “and yes, problems seem to find him… and he has gotten into… fights… before, so it is not like he hasn’t been in situations like this before, I wonder what was so different this time…” Kankuro wondered entering his own thoughts. Before Yamada could take this further, what he assumed was the doctor walked in. 

“Please excuse our staff if they said anything brash. They all were spooked earlier and have refused to enter the room.” The doctor said apologetically. Yamada waved his hands in dismissal and the doctor continued, “He was put under before he got here and has remained so since then. When he was wheeled in I was put in charge of his surgery. He is an extremely fast healer so the tissues were already repairing themselves by the time we had him. Unfortunately, they were not healing in the right position and we still needed to work on his bone so we had to use something to stop the growth. From what we have seen he should heal fine, however he is seriously exhausted and his fast healing may cause him more problems if he doesn’t get the rest he needs. To remedy this, he can either get more sleep, or we can give him medication to keep his ability to heal at a normal level.”

“The more sleep thing is off the table… unless we can get more of the stuff he was injected with.” Kankuro said. 

“The stuff that he was injected with isn’t safe to be used often, only when absolutely necessary. So I will write a prescription for the medication and also pain relievers _**(which he won’t use)**_. We want to keep him here till he wakes up, then he is free to go, provided that he is taken care of at home and doesn’t do anything strenuous for the next two weeks. When it is time for him to be released I will give you more information on his care but for now, any questions before I leave?” The doctor asked.

“Can we stay with him?” Temari asked softly, moving to brush her hand against Gaara’s.

“Of course, anything else?” The doctor replied. Yamada looked around at the twins before speaking.

“Nope! Thanks for everything!” Yamada said. The doctor bowed his head and left the room. 

“Can we go see Aizawa now, Yamada?” Temari questioned. **_(hello it is I, depression! Bringing a lack of appetite, no will to live, and writer’s block! Congratulations!!!)_** Yamada’s heart twinged with happiness and hope and led the twins out of the room back to the elevator. Once they entered the elevator, they hit the button for the floor above.

This elevator ride was considerably less tense than the last one had been. They reached the fourth floor and got off and walked to Aizawa’s room. Aizawa’s room was the same as Gaara’s but without the sand. In the hospital bed was a very disgruntled Aizawa. Both of his arms were in white casts, and his eyes were covered in bandages. Temari nudged Kankuro and motioned for him to follow her farther down the hallway to give the two some room. 

“Sho!” Yamada rushed over as to crush him into a hug before pausing and then deciding that a gentle hug would be better for his injured husband. Yamada moved his hand to Shota’s hair. “Will you be alright?” Yamada asked softly.

“If you get me out of this hospital I might be. They won’t let me leave.” Aizawa said in a gruff voice, “I will be just fine, ‘Zashi, we can talk more about it at home. Although I guess this means that I will have to put off returning to hero work even longer.” Aizawa complained. Yamada let out a quick laugh.

“The kids are here! They wanted to see you!” Yamada said happily, “You guys didn’t have to wait outside!” He said loudly so he could make sure they would hear and come in. The mention of kids brought a memory to Aizawa’s mind.

“Gaara.” He said as the twins walked in and he noticed Gaara absent, “I remember sand closing around me during my fight with that villian… where is he?” Yamada let out a nervous chuckle.

“Well that is one of the reasons why we got here so late! But everything will be fine, the doctor said and he is just resting right now, you don’t need to worry about it, we can talk at home like you said.” Yamada replied not wanting to breach the subject. 

“No, I think we should talk about it now. What happened?” Aizawa said firmly.

“We are not exactly sure,” Temari said, “We only know the result and not what happened, we were just focused on getting to the hospital.” 

“Result?” Aizawa questioned.

“I can tell you what happened from when I entered the USJ,” Yamada spoke up, “When I got there, they were taking you away and just as I was about to go with you I noticed that Gaara was not among the other students. I found out that he had been injured and they were carrying you and him back to the entrance when Midoriya left to help All Might and left Gaara on the way, seeing as you were more injured. I finally found him making buildings out of sand… he was acting differently than normal and after we went to Recovery Girl, she knocked him out and said he needed to go to the hospital. She also said that the strange behavior was a coping mechanism but she said that it need not be worried about right then and that I should get Gaara to the hospital. I put him in the ambulance and then had to find the twins which was really hard, I did-“ Yamada’s confusing explanation was cut off by Aizawa, who understood everything that was said because he was used to this. 

“What is his condition?” Aizawa asked, trying to get to the point.

“Recovery Girl said that his arm was fractured and dislocated but the doctor said he should recover with no problem!” Yamada rushed out, not sure what severity Aizawa was deeming the worst case scenario. Aizawa sighed in relief that the damage was not going to be permanent but still was upset that the boy had gotten hurt at all. 

“If it is alright, could Kankuro and I go back to Gaara’s room? We want to be there when he wakes up.” Temari asked. Aizawa opened his mouth to speak in panic when he heard the boy was asleep, but decided that if there was a problem he would have been evacuated since Gaara’s quirk would have probably destroyed the hospital. The twins left the room after a confirmation from Yamada and Aizawa frowned.

“Please get me out of here ‘Zashi, I think this place isn’t good for my health.”   
  



	37. Chapter 34 ~ Kakashi, Baki, Gai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The medical things are off but we tried our best! And the poor not main characters are ao neglected...

Gaara drifted back into consciousness thinking that he was back inside the plane that Shukaku occupied. He realized very quickly that this was not the case when the eyes he opened were very much his real ones. Gaara attempted to move his head to better see where he was, but found out that he could not move so he had to settle for what he was able to observe in a fixed position. 

He concluded that he was in a hospital room, if his knowledge from reading books could be trusted. The pale white walls, the unfamiliar bed, and three uncomfortable looking folding chairs, two occupied and the other sat empty. In the two folding chairs were a sleeping Kankuro and Temari. Kankuro had fallen so his head was resting on Temari’s shoulder and they were softly snoring. Gaara lay in the hospital bed for what seemed like forever until the door opened and Yamada came in. The sudden movement and noise woke up the twins and Temari looked up yawning. 

“Did you get him home alright?” Temari mumbled, a yawn interrupting her thought halfway through. Gaara assumed that she was talking about Aizawa since he was the only one not present and was hurt to some degree. 

“Yes, he would have stayed here, but the doctor gave him an ultimatum. Stay in the hospital bed and rest or go home and rest. Anyways, I see you two were getting some rest as well! Sorry to wake you,” Yamada answered wincing, “I tried to be as GAARA’S AWAKE!!!!” Yamada said suddenly yelling. Temari was quick to shush him, looking around in a panic, as if asking sure there were no angry nurses around before she realized what he said. Kankuro shot to his feet and ran over to Gaara’s bedside, followed quickly by Temari once she had registered what Yamada said. Yamada was close behind the two as they reached the bed. Gaara could do nothing but watch as the scene unfolded. 

“Hey Gaara,” Kankuro said softly with a slight smile, “How are ya feeling?” Gaara stared at Kankuro but said nothing, not only because he physically couldn't. “Um… should we call for the doctor or something?” Kankuro wondered after trying to get Gaara to respond a couple more times and failing.

“I am sure that they are already on their way with how loud Yamada was.” Temari muttered back trying to hide the worry in her voice. Sure enough, a nurse came in wondering what the problem was. Seeing Gaara awake, she said she would be back with the doctor and left as quickly as she arrived. 

The doctor hurried into the room, carrying a clipboard with him. The nurse came in afterwards, much slower. The doctor stopped near the bed before turning to Yamada and the twins and giving them a small nod. He then pulled up the white sleeve on his right arm, glancing at his watch.

“Good morning,” he greeted. Yamada glanced up at the clock in the room, his eyes widening at the time.

“Oh, good morning. I hope I didn’t cause too much of a disturbance,” Yamada nervously apologized. The doctor gave a light chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it. There aren’t any critically injured patients near this room, so you are fine,” the doctor assured him. This however, did not help. Yamada couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t question what he was referring to, and instead told him that there was nobody around. The doctor turned towards Gaara. “Hello,” the doctor paused, glancing at his clipboard to ensure he said the correct name. “Gaara. I’m Doctor Stroganoff. How are you feeling?” he asked. An awkward silence filled the room. The doctor raised a drawn on eyebrow. “Gaara? Can you hear me?” He tried again. And again, there was no response. The doctor flipped through the few pages on his clipboard before looking back at the seemingly frozen boy. “Are you just unable to move? Blink twice if you can’t move,” he said calmly. Gaara blinked twice. It was a little slow, but still clear.

“Is he okay?” Kankuro anxiously asked. The doctor sighed, before turning towards the three.

“Yes. I have to assume this must be a combination of his lack of sleep, and the medication he was given. While his mind might be awake, his body is still under the influence of the medication. It might also have to do with the fact it says that he hasn’t had sleep in quite some time, which is worrisome,” the doctor explained. The three let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding.

“They are talking about me as if I was not in the room,” Gaara thought annoyed. The way the doctor spoke, he knew that Gaara could still hear them, and yet his way of speaking did not change.

“I’ll have Nurse Joy check him over, and then he should be ready to go home soon, though he’ll need lots of rest, and shouldn’t strain or push himself. He should avoid physical activities for two weeks, and then be eased into it. I’ll still be prescribing the medication I mentioned early to help with the pain,” he said, flipping to a different page and pulling out his pen. “And I’d like to just double check that you don’t want anything to aid his sleep,” the doctor added.

“Yeah, sleeping is still off the table,” Kankuro said definitively. The doctor nodded, making a note.

“So you’d like the medication to help stunt his healing? This will help ensure the healing goes at the pace it should so nothing will heal incorrectly,” the doctor explained. Yamada nodded.

“That would be best,” Yamada confirmed, watching as the doctor continued scribbling on the paper.

Gaara was getting seriously irritated by this point. He felt like he was back at his home while his ‘father’ avoided anything that would cause him to acknowledge his presence. He clenched his fist, then realized that he had just moved. To test how much of his functions he had back, Gaara tried to bring his fist toward him. To Gaara’s satisfaction, this worked but the motion went unnoticed by everyone in the room, as they were completely absorbed in what the doctor was saying and doing.

 _ **/\/\/A Note from Author Shinji: This next part isn’t part of the plot, so if that bothers you, feel free to scroll past the blocks of black, and to the normal text! P.S. from Author Iwa~Chan: this wasn’t supposed to happen… I don’t know how it got to this… one moment it was normal, and then it wasn’t… this is NOT the rest of the chapter \/\/\\.**_

“So, does he have a mother?” the doctor asked, but immediately regretted it. Kankuro seemed to get depressed, and Yamada got flustered.

“Uh… well,” Yamada struggled with the words.

“Gaara has two fathers,” Temari flatly said, stunning the whole room. Kankuro slowly turned to his sister, his jaw nearly touching the floor.

“WHATTTTTTTTT????!!!!!” Kankuro exclaimed, permanently damaging everyone’s eardrums. The doctor quickly recovered, and attempted to clear up the misunderstanding.

“I’m quite sorry about my wording! I was meaning his birth mother. The healing he has is something I’ve only seen a couple of times before,” the doctor quickly said, nearly slurring his words. Yamada let out a sigh, though was still flustered.

“Oh, um,” Yamada turned to the only functioning twin.

“Gaara’s mom died when he was born. She’s gone for good. Zip. No more,” Temari said. Kankuro was still caught up on the same part as Yamada.

“WHO ARE THE TWO FATHERS?!” he questioned aloud. Yamada’s face turned even more red. Temari gave a sly smirk, and Yamada knew she was doing it on purpose.

“Well, dear cat brother, who are the two adults that we live with?” she asked, letting him figure it out on his own. Kankuro’s face scrunched up in thought, until his eyes opened wide.

“YAMADA AND AIZAWA ARE DATING?!!!” Kankuro exclaimed, even louder this time.

**_“Whoah, whoah, whoah! You uh guys need to go back on script!” Author Iwa~Chan warned, jumping in through the window._**

“I’m not sure what you mean, this is in the script,” Temari deviously said.

**_“Um, no it isn’t… wait a second… Shinji did you do this… how dare you betray me like this!!!” Author Iwa~Chan said accusingly_**

**_Shinji fell through the ceiling, seemingly by accident. “No! I swear it’s not what it looks like!” Author Shinji exclaimed, slowly getting up and worriedly glancing around, hoping nobody got damaged._**  
  
“Why in the great wide world were you in the ceiling!” Kankuro exclaimed. Aizawa suddenly appeared through a portal and shook his head at Kankuro.

**_“Well there is another floor above us! I was just checking out a few other people here! And recording the set!” Author Shinji explained._**

**_“Suuuurrre…. this was your plan all along… and how did Aizawa get here? There is literally no way for him to be here right now.” Author Iwa~Chan said confused._ **

**_“I may or may not have accidentally… deleted the last part of the script, and just told her to improvise… okay. I didn’t expect her to bring up Yamada and Aizawa! Temari’s just upset because the other day I told her Shikamaru can’t be in this universe and now she’s out to get me!” Author Shinji exclaimed, before glancing towards Aizawa. “And I have no clue how or why he is here.”_**

**_“This is NOT what the readers signed up for here. Lets just send Aizawa home and erase everyone’s memory and try this again from the top of the page.” Author Iwa~Chan ordered._**

**_The cast let out a long groan, seemingly annoyed. Temari just grinned. “Yeah, that works for me. This sure went way off track. I wonder if this kind of thing will ever happen again… or get weirder in any way…” Author Shinji sarcastically said._**

**_“I feel like every time we write we just get crazier with the execution of our ideas and how we get from concept to concept… like I almost killed everyone at least ten times in this chapter….” Author Iwa~Chan admitted._**

**_“Probably. And this is still with us holding back so as to not overwhelm everyone.” Author Shinji nodded in agreement, before turning to the main camera. “So, I hope we didn’t disturb you too much, Readers. This was actually fun to write and while it won’t interfere with the plot since we are all powerful beings and can turn back time and erase memories, we might still add things like this in,” Author Shinji said, a slightly mischievous grin creeping its way onto their face._**

**_“Really Shinji, this whole thing was your fault in the first place, now the readers are going to be confused. Well now back to the regularly scheduled program, where we already have a plan.” Author Iwa~Chan said also with a growing grin._**

**NOW BACK TO YOUR ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED CHAPTER**

“I was also wondering if you could fill in some of the missing blanks in Gaara’s history. We don’t seem to have any information on him at all.” The doctor asked, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. The twins shared a look, and then nodded. “Ok then, we have his birth certificate, but the woman that is listed as Gaara’s mother is obviously not here.” The doctor said, an unspoken question evident in his tone. 

“Gaara’s mother died within an hour of him being born. It was a result of her quirk.” Temari said after a moment of consideration. The doctor looked like he was going to ask more questions about the subject, but Temari shot a glare in his direction that ended that line of questioning. 

“Alrighty then, how about his quirk… it is listed as Sand and something called Tails, but I don’t think that covers his insane healing ability.” The doctor said. At this point Gaara had discovered that he had regained all motion; however, he had just decided to lie there if they were going to pretend he wasn’t there. 

“It just happens.” Temari shot him down, letting him know that this was not a subject that she wanted to give information about either. 

“Ok, so you live with the father, then… a Rasa Ka-“ the doctor switched over to another question he had been wanting to ask before being cut off.

“No. We live with Yamada and Aizawa, they take care of us now. Don’t say that man’s name again.” Temari cut in. 

“My apologies, let’s move past the past. Gaara seems really healthy despite his lack of sleep and has been cleared to be released. So if you are willing, Yamada, you can fill out the release form now.” 

The doctor then led Yamada to the desk to fill it out and to turn in the request for prescriptions. It took Yamada a while to fill out the forms, enough so that the prescriptions were filled by the time he was done. There was a lot more paperwork for Gaara since he was a minor than the one Yamada filled out for Shota. Yamada was feeling very happy at how Temari had told the doctor that they were living with them. He wanted to let himself hope that this meant that Temari would be happy with Yamada and Aizawa as their new parents, but it was probably just the doctor’s question. Yamada got the prescription and went back to Gaara’s room to find him sitting up, but still not saying a word. The twins were trying to get him to say something and trying to let him know that they were there for him. Gaara was just staring ahead with more emptiness in his eyes than usual. Kankuro notices Yamada in the doorway. 

“Right after you left with the doctor he sat up and hasn’t said a word since.” Kankuro glanced at Gaara then back at Yamada, “So are we good to go then?” 

“Yup! So how about it Gaara? Are you ready to go?” Yamada asked. Gaara turned to look at him and stared, before finally nodding after Yamada had begun to feel unnerved. Gaara tried to stand up only to crumple to the floor, as he tried to use his hand to help his body up, forgetting it was encased by white stuff. 

“Gaara!” Temari let out a cry and moved forward to grab him. “That’s it. I am carrying you, like it or not.” Gaara was helpless as he was removed from the floor and into the warm embrace of his sister’s arms. As he was carried out to the car he wondered to himself how many times he had been carried today. After the fight ended and All Might showed up, things got a little fuzzy. He vaguely remembered being carried then set down, but not much after that. Then of course he remembered the whole scene with Shukaku in his head. That was a mess. He was still wondering what the tanaki meant by what he said. He was brought back to reality when he was placed into Aizawa and Yamada’s car. He bucked the seatbelt on his own, after swatting his sister’s hand away. Everyone else got into the car and they started on their way. “I hope I wasn’t imposing on you and Aizawa with what I said in the hospital.” Temari said nervously.

“Oh no! It is true isn’t it! You are staying at our house now, and you can stay as long as you would like, and… and I am rambling. Sorry.” Yamada hurriedly answered. He thought to himself that he sounded like one of his new students in class 1-A. 

“It is fine.” Kankuro said, speaking for all of them. 

“It has been a long and stressful day for all of us, huh? You know what I like to do when I have had a stressful day? Eat ice-cream!!” Yamada cheered.

“I don’t remember the last time our father let us have ice-cream.” Kankuro said longingly. Yamada thought he had gotten through all of the shocks of what the three had missed out on, but apparently not. 

“Then that seals it. We are getting you all ice-cream!!!!!!!!!” Yamada said, determined. He changed course, and began heading for his favorite Ice Cream Parlor: Scoop-tacular Scoops. After about two minutes of growing anticipation and silence, the car came to a halt. “We’re here!” Yamada exclaimed, jumping out of the car. “I’ve actually been meaning to take us all here at some point, but never found the right time,” Yamada added, as the twins began getting out of the car, both helping Gaara out.

Gaara was the least enthused about the whole event. He hadn’t ever had ice-cream himself, but the whole concept did not appeal to him. Despite that, he didn’t have the energy nor the will to speak up. So he just let himself be brought into the store. A few of the other customers seemed to steal glances at the group, specifically Gaara’s wrapped body.

“Alright kids! Just pick a flavor, and you can have as much as you want!” Yamada said, going to the flavor he was always a fan of. He also planned on getting Aizawa a cone as well. So the four split up, with Temari helping Gaara along.

10 minutes went by and only 3 of the five ice-creams were chosen. Cookie dough for Temari, Pecan for Aizawa, and Superman for Yamada. Kankuro was stuck between two flavors, and Gaara seemed to be content with not getting any.

“What’s wrong Gaara? Do you not like ice-cream?” Yamada wondered, horrified by the mere thought. Gaara glanced around before giving a shrug, seemingly still set on not talking.

“Gaara doesn’t really like sweets,” Temari explained. Yamada looked around, determined to have Gaara at least try something. He walked up and down the flavors, avoiding Kankuro, until he came across one.

“Excuse me, can we try this?” Yamada asked, pointing to a faint pink ice-cream. The lady working at the time nodded and pulled out a small spoon, scooping a little bit on before handing it to Yamada. Yamada then passed it to Gaara who took it with his uninjured hand. Gaara gave the food a suspicious look before cautiously eating it. He stood there for a few seconds, holding the spoon in his mouth, while trying to figure out if he actually liked it or not, until he finally came to a decision.

“It’s okay,” he softly spoke.

“You spoke!” Yamada suddenly exclaimed, as if he hadn’t spoken for years. Even Kankuro looked over, peeling his eyes away from the many delicious flavors of ice-cream. “Well it’s settled! One scoop of Sriracha, please!” Yamada happily announced, before turning his attention to Kankuro.

“Just choose a flavor!” Temari shouted, irritated with her twin. He had always been indecisive when it came to certain foods and it seemed like ice-cream was one of those. She knew he wouldn’t decide even if given another hour.

“Now, now, Temari,” Yamada calmed the hot-headed girl down, before walking over to see what was holding Kankuro up. “Which ones are you looking at?” he asked.

“Strawberry shortcake and Birthday cake,” Kankuro said. Yamada couldn’t help but remember the first time he had been in the place, and was blown away by all of the flavors they had.

“Ah, those are good flavors. Why not get them both? I told you all to get what you wanted,” Yamada offered. Kankuro’s eyes lit up at the thought. “A double with strawberry shortcake and birthday cake,” Yamada requested. After everyone had their ice-cream, Yamada paid and they went back to the car. “Now just be careful not to let it melt, Aizawa might kill me if anything stains the car,” Yamada warned. He had gotten cups for his ice-cream and Aizawa’s so he could set them down/have someone hold them.

Aizawa thought that being at home would be better than being stuck at the hospital; however, this way it was harder for him to get updates on Gaara’s condition. He was stuck on the couch, not able to move his arms or see so he was basically a prisoner in his own skin. He kept hearing the pitter-patter of the cats as they ran past him multiple times, but he had no clue as to what they could be doing. All he could do was go over everything that happened that day and wonder if he could have done anything to keep his students, and Gaara, safer. He sighed. Although he knew Yamada and all of his friends would tell him that he did everything right and he couldn’t change the past no matter how much he thought about it, Aizawa couldn’t help it. He sat there in thought till he heard the door open and people enter, as if trying not to disturb anyone that would be sleeping (Aizawa had tried to sleep, but his guilty conscience and worrying kept him awake). 

Yamada turned to the siblings, “You guys can go to the kitchen to finish your ice-cream. I will join you soon!” The twins nodded and went to the kitchen, Gaara following slowly. As soon as they entered the kitchen, the cats started meowing expecting to be fed since no one had done it.

“Sho, I got you ice-cream!” Yamada chipped, skipping to the living room. Yamada knew that Shota would be awake because of the way his husband overthinks things. 

“‘Zashi, you know I can’t eat anything right now because my arms are all wrapped up.” Shota responded annoyed.

“I know that! I’ll be feeding you silly! What kinda husband would I be if I didn’t take care of you when you were injured!!” Hizashi said with a fake hurt expression. Shota groaned in embarrassment but didn’t refuse as his husband began feeding him.   
  
After a couple of spoonfuls, Shota closed his mouth in refusal of more. “How is the kid?” He asked. Hizashi slowly set the spoon back into the bowl, having known the question would have eventually come up.

“He’s doing okay. His left arm took the brunt of the force, but the doctor patched him up. He just needs to rest and take it easy for a little while,” Hizashi said, doing his best not to worry his injured husband anymore. Shota let out a slight sigh.

“That’s good. Has he said anything about it yet?” Shota asked. Hizashi gave a light chuckle.

“Well, he hasn’t really spoken much since he woke up. And before that he acted a bit strangely, possibly in shock. But maybe you’d have better luck,” Hizashi admitted.

“Hmm… strangely?” Shota hummed. Hizashi nodded, setting the small styrofoam bowl onto the coffee table.

“Yeah! He didn't act anything like himself. I actually found himself building some kind city out of sand. It was like he was a little kid. If I didn’t know him, I’d actually find it really cute, but seeing him so different…” Hizashi’s words trailed off, before he snapped himself back. “Chiyo had said it was some kind of coping mechanism, so I tried not to worry too much,” he added.

“That would make sense, I mean, Gaara has been through a lot. We should talk to the twins and see if they know anything about it before we talk to Gaara, just in case it would trigger something if we went straight to him. Then we can decide on where to go from there… it sounds something like a personality disorder… I could be completely wrong, though.” Shota commented with a thoughtful look on his face. Hizashi nodded slowly.

“That would make sense,” he said. “We should probably wait for a few days, or at least until tomorrow though. Today has been one long train of stress,” Hizashi said, rubbing his forehead some.

“Well of course ‘Zashi, I wouldn’t ask at what, two in the morning? They need time to rest before school later today and so do we, so let’s finish up and go to bed.” Shota suggested.

“Before school? You aren’t going to school in your condition and neither are the kids. It’s already past midnight, you and Gaara were hospitalized and told to take it easy, and everyone should have at least one day of rest. I’m sure they’d understand,” Hizashi said firmly, yet sweetly. He didn’t actually know if the school would let them stay, since they all knew how dangerous being a hero can be, and yet he was not going to let them go without a fight.

“No. The kids can stay home but I will not be missing.” Shota said sternly and Hizashi could see the narrowed eyes that Shota would be making if he could right now. Hizashi let out a sigh, knowing that Shota wouldn’t budge from that decision and that it was the best offer he could get.

“Fine. But you have to take it easy,” Hizashi agreed. “I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt anymore than you already are. I can’t even see your beautiful face as it is!” Hizashi whined, his eyes watering up with exaggerated tears. 

Shota let out another exasperated sigh and said gently, “Alright ‘Zashi. Let’s finish our ice-cream and go to bed.”

Mean while: “How could I have been so stupid!?” Shukaku yelled at himself, trying to force the anger away. “Of course he wouldn’t want me to care! I don’t care either!” Shukaku tried convincing himself. Shukaku had begun pacing around in the mental space he had, occasionally kicking the sand up in frustration. “Ugh! That brat!” he grumbled. After a couple of minutes of grumbling nonsense to himself, he let out a long sigh, with a hint of pain lurking in his strange, yellow eyes. “It doesn’t matter! I don’t care about him, and he doesn’t care about me! That’s the way it always was so why should now be any different?!” Shukaku declared. Another long, silent moment passed. “It’s too boring in here… I wonder if it’s more interesting outside?” Shukaku pondered. He then began his internal fight on whether or not to go look, but eventually, boredom won out.


	38. Chapter 35 ~ Now Shukaku is Getting Bored

The next morning, the twins got up without being called. Despite not getting the usual amount of sleep, they still felt energized and were ready to get back to their normal. Even Gaara was ready to go back. To everyone, it felt like it had been days since they were in class.

“Mmm, something smells good!” Temari commented as she and Kankuro reached the bottom of the stairs. “Is that french toast?” she asked, as the two made it into the kitchen. Inside, Yamada stood at the stove, while a wrapped up Aizawa sat on the couch. Both were staring at the twins. “Something wrong?” Temari nervously asked.

“Uh, no! I guess we forgot to mention it to you before you went to bed, but we had decided that you should stay home for today,” Yamada explained, plating the food he had made before starting another batch. He hadn’t expected the kids to have woken up that early so he only made enough for Aizawa and him.

Temari narrowed her eyes. “And you decided that without asking us?” she demanded. Kankuro shrugged at the idea.

“I was looking forward to seeing Mirio and the gang, but a day off from school doesn’t sound so bad,” Kankuro said honestly, earning him a punch in the side.

“No! We can’t just skip out on school! We weren’t even involved in the incident! Why should Aizawa get to go but we can’t?!” Temari continued her argument. Yamada nervously glanced at Aizawa. He hadn’t prepared for them to want to go to school.

“Hey, I was NOT the one that said you guys couldn’t go to school, I said you COULD stay home, take it up with Hizashi.” Aizawa said from the couch, where he was drinking his black coffee. Yamada looked at Aizawa with a hurt expression, before nervously back at Temari who could now direct all of her anger at him. Luckily for him, the final member of the house had gotten up, and was now standing behind Temari and Kankuro.

“Gaara!” Temari jumped from his sudden presence. “What are you doing up?! You shouldn’t be walking so much!” she said, now fully in her parenting mode. Gaara just glared daggers at her. 

“I can walk and go to school if Aizawa can.” Gaara said defiantly. The twins and Yamada looked to Gaara with strange expressions. All three were at a loss for words and Yamada glanced helplessly at Aizawa, and as if Aizawa predicted his husband's reaction he sighed.

"You heard him. He can walk and go to school. So let's get going or we'll be late." Aizawa grumbled out. Yamada put a hand over his chest like he had been stabbed. **_(Top ten fanfiction betrayals)_**

"Sho!" Yamada started before thinking better of it and giving in. He knew he would not win this. He was beginning to think that Gaara and Shota were too much alike, they even had the same lack of cooking ability and the skill of being a cat magnet. "Alright… as long as you both make sure to be careful and see Ch-Recovery Girl." 

"We will." Shota said for both himself and Gaara, knowing that he wouldn't get anywhere contesting his husband. The twins just stood by watching. Temari was about to enter in the conversation when she decided she would rather let Gaara do what he wanted. She was thrilled, after all, that Gaara even willingly made the choice to go to school rather than to stay home. Kankuro had arrived at that conclusion years ago so he was just observing the married couple. 

"Ok! Now let's all eat before the food gets cold! French Toast is no good after it sits!" Yamada spurred them into action, everyone coming to the table to eat. It took much coaxing from Temari for Gaara to take the medication he was prescribed but he eventually caved, although he flat out refused the pain meds. After breakfast the siblings all went upstairs to retrieve their school stuff and then they all left the house after feeding the cats, who were still upset about being left without food so long the night/morning before. They all piled into the car and headed off to school. They arrived at the school at a time most would consider normal, however they were always at the school before anyone else so it was strange when Aizawa parked and there were other people walking around. 

“Alright, let's get to class before we get mobbed.” Aizawa said gruffly.

“ShoOoo,” Yamada whined, “ I know you are talking about our co-workers, your friends, they aren’t that bad they just care about you. And besides, you have a right to be ‘mobbed’ since you have been avoiding their calls and texts since last night!” It was Aizawa’s turn to feel betrayed and Yamada couldn’t help but feel satisfaction.

“It is not like I can use my phone right now, Hizashi.” Aizawa rebutted. Yamada’s smirk fell but he continued.

“I could have held the phone or there is a thing called speaker phone. I even offered to read off the texts last night!” Yamada said snottaly. 

“It’s not like they aren’t just going to bombard me with the same questions when they see me anyway.” Aizawa said.

“Uhhh… sorry to interrupt but if your intention was to get inside before getting questioned, I don’t think you are doing so well.” Kankuro gestured toward the entrance to the school where a woman was headed toward them. 

“AIZAWA! What are you doing at school?! You need to rest! Yamada! Why is he here today!?” The woman demanded stopping in front of the group. 

“You know Shota. He is stubborn.” Yamada said helplessly while Aizawa just sighed.

“You can ask me all the questions at lunch, let’s just get inside before we are late.” Aizawa said, defeated. The woman’s eyes lit up and her face grew into a Cheshire Cat grin. She started to turn towards the school when the kids caught her eye. “Annnnd we can talk while we walk.” Aizawa concluded as if he knew what Midnight was thinking. They all started walking trying to match Aizawa’s pace as he sped ahead. 

“So how are you kids?” Midnight asked as they ‘walked’. 

“Well I am doing horrible.” Kankuro stated. Everyone except Gaara stopped and looked at him in shock. “My cactus has died like two times since I have been staying with Aizawa and Yamada, and I still haven’t been able to cook at all!” Temari bonked him on the head and they all started walking again in relief. 

“What Kankuro means is we are very happy. They have been so welcoming and kind to us. We are very grateful that they took us in.” Temari quickly rebutted. 

“That’s great! I was so surprised when Aizawa agreed to take all of you guys… but not too much! I always knew that he was a big softy!” Midnight exclaimed. Gaara listened in as Midnight spoke. He was annoyed that he had been acquainted with yet another person that spoke in too many exclamation points. He tuned the rest of the conversation out as they arrived at the 1-A classroom. Kankuro, Temari, and Yamada split off and gave a wave and Gaara gave a small nod in return before slipping into the classroom. 

The class was chattering but the moment that Aizawa entered the class room they all started to freak out. Gaara used this to make his way unnoticed to his desk. He sat down and stared out the window.

“...The battle isn’t over yet.” Aizawa said, drawing Gaara back into focus and causing the class to tense up, “the sports festival begins soon." And just like that Gaara wasn’t paying attention anymore. He stayed present enough to understand what the sports festival was but he didn't understand the hype of being watched by so many people. Although this really would mean he would need to train. The class starts to buzz with excited energy and Aizawa sighs for the uptenth time that morning before lying down to sleep. Gaara also sighed but he didn't get the liberty of going to sleep as he was 'swarmed' by Midoriya and co. and was bombarded with questions about his injuries. Gaara could tell that this would be a long day.


	39. Chapter 36 ~ And Taking Over Me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some like past abuse that Gaara remembers in this chapter, just didn't want anyone to just stumble upon it if they are bothered. It isn't like physical!

The day went by smoothly until lunch hit. The nightmare began when Gaara left the classroom. He had tried to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible to find a quiet place to eat where no one would ask him questions when he almost ran into Temari standing right outside the door. He turned around immediately only to see the green bush, the scarily happy brunette, and the leg engine boy. Temari looked behind Gaara to see his ‘friends’ and squealed.

“Gaara has to go see Recovery Girl, but it should be quick if you want to come along!” Temari said joyfully, grabbing Gaara’s shoulders. Gaara opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it with a sigh. 

“Thank you! We would be glad to come along!” Uraraka cheered.

“As long as it is ok with Gaara, of course.” Midoriya stuttered out.

“Yes we don’t want to intrude!” The engine boy said with a chopping hand motion. 

“Nah, Gaara doesn’t mind, you guys are his friends after all.” Temari claimed and Gaara let out a sigh and a nod just to get this over with. Temari started chattering with Gaara’s ‘friends’ as they walked toward Recovery Girl’s office and gave up on trying to talk to him after he didn’t respond to their questions. 

When they reached Recovery Girl’s office, Gaara and Temari went in while Gaara’s friends insisted that they would wait for them outside. When they entered they saw Aizawa getting up from sitting on a bed.

“-Thank you for doing this, Hizashi is just worried.” Aizawa was saying.

“He has a right to be you know,” Recovery Girl said, hitting his shoulder, “I am glad that you are getting more sleep recently, that will help with the healing.” Aizawa sighed.

“I know, I am glad that he is, but it is not like you can do anything about this, and the only reason that I have been getting more sleep is because I have been forced off of night patrols. I was just about to be able to go back too… I wouldn’t put it past Hizashi to have arranged a hit on me to prolong that.” Aizawa said, jokingly. Recovery Girl let out a laugh and looked up to see Gaara and Temari. 

“Hello Recovery Girl, Aizawa,” Temari said.

“Hello, dears, come on in Gaara, I see that you are another victim of your loved ones’ worry.” Recovery Girl teased. Temari adopted a guilty expression and looked down. “It’s alright dearie, it is only natural to be worried and it’s certainly not bothering me any.” At Recovery Girl’s insistence, Gaara sat on the bed that Aizawa had vacated. “Well, I can’t do much for you that the hospital didn’t , but how have you been feeling?” Gaara shrugged, and watched as Recovery Girl looked him over. She turned toward Temari, “Well you will be glad to know that his body just needs time to heal on its own and he is doing very well!” She concluded.

“Thank you.” Temari bowed towards Recovery Girl and Gaara got up from the bed and started walking towards the door. Temari followed and Gaara looked back at Recovery Girl and Aizawa with a glance and she winked at Gaara. 

“So, how’d it go?” Uraraka asked when they opened the door.

“Yup! No reason to worry!” Temari said, switching back to her perky personality, “I’ll leave you guys to it. Make sure that he eats lunch today!” Temari started skipping down the halls humming to herself getting several weird looks from passersby. 

“Alright then, let’s get some lunch, I am starving!” Uraraka did something. 

“Yes, I am also ready for lunch.” Engine boy agreed. 

There was a blissful silence as they walked to the lunch room until Midoryia spoke up.

“Hey Uraraka, there was something I was meaning to ask you. Why did you come to this school? Why do you want to be a pro hero?” Midoriya asked.

“Well you see… Pro Heroes make a lot of money.” Uraraka answered nervously.

“For the money? You want to be a hero so you can get rich?” Midoriya said, shocked.

“Well yeah… I am sorry if I sound greedy, you guys have such admirable motivations, I hope you don’t think less of me now.” Uraraka stammered out.

“Not at all! Your goal is to support your well being, which is a perfectly admirable ambition to have!” Iida reassured her.

“Mhm, it is just kinda surprising.” Midoriya agreed.

“Well you see, my family owns a construction company…” Gaara sighed and decided that the conversation was not going to involve him anytime soon so he turned to his own thoughts, only to be confronted with another conversation. 

_“It is rude to ignore your friends. Thought I would inform you since you are adamant on ignoring my warnings.”_ Shukaku jabbed. 

_“This is coming from the one who has been sulking for the last 12 hours, ignoring me.”_ Gaara retaliated.

_“Oh, so you consider me a friend? And I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t sulk. You are the sulker.”_

_“I-“_ Gaara was interrupted by a very loud greeting.

“YOUNG MIDORIYA!!!” All Might shouted, suddenly appearing from around a corner with a small bento, “Lunch?” Midoriya looked at his friends to make sure they were alright with him leaving before agreeing and heading off with All Might. This is when Gaara realized the nightmare was about to get worse. Not only was Shukaku back and ready to attack, but his only buffer was leaving. He watched helplessly as All Might led the bush away and Uraraka spoke up.

“Well we should get going before the lines get longer!” She said with warning, and they continued their journey to the cafeteria. Gaara realized that in the rush to leave the house that morning, Kankuro didn’t pack a lunch for him. The thought of eating became even less appealing. Once they were in line, they started to talk again. “I wonder what All Might wanted with Deku?” Uraraka asked, concern in her voice. 

“I heard that when All Might was being attacked by villains during the USJ incident, Midoryia tried to stop them himself. Perhaps that’s what this is about.” Engine boy theorized with even more hand motions.

_“He could have just said yesterday.”_ Shukaku grumbled.

“Oh yeah!” Uraraka remembered.

“Also remember what Asui said on the bus about how similar Midoriya’s quirk was to All Might’s.” Engine continued, “Since their quirks are so similar it is possible that All Might has taken a liking to him. How lucky!” Now that Gaara thought about it there was a strange connection between the two; however, Gaara wasn’t sure if it was just because the two had similar quirks. As the pair continued bouncing ideas back and forth Gaara looked around the cafeteria before spotting Todoroki ahead of them in line. He seemed to be paying far more attention to them than would be considered normal. The boy seemed to be looking in places where Gaara was a lot, does he think he is being covert? What was he thinking about? Gaara felt a weird tingly feeling but he shook it off. Gaara could handle anything that the boy was capable of so he would just watch him for now. 

They got lunch surprisingly quickly for the long lines, and Gaara got the simplest thing that hopefully did not contain what he was allergic to, not that he cared but if he had a reaction and survived, Temari and Kankuro would just give him a lecture, and that would be worse than dying. 

Once they were through the line they moved to sit where Gaara assumed was their regular table. “Oh! Gaara, you also jumped into the battle! I am glad that you are alright! Why did you do that?” Uraraka questioned apologetically. Gaara could see no way to get out of the question without answering but he himself wasn’t exactly sure himself. 

“There were people in danger, I could help.” Gaara said simply with a shrug after thinking it over. 

“That was very heroic of you but we are students so it was reckless of you to rush in. You are lucky that you were not more injured.” Engine boy said. Gaara had to agree with him. He definitely was very lucky that he had dodged out of the way.

“Iida! He did the best thing he could!” Uraraka debated. 

_“Ahh, so that is his name.”_ Gaara thought to himself.

_“Wooooow,”_ Shukaku said, _“you have been hanging around him all this time and you didn’t even know his name?”_

_“You were the one that said not to make ‘friends’. Besides, I don’t really care.”_ Gaara said back. Uraraka and Iida had moved on to a different topic but he wasn’t paying attention, instead he focused on eating his lunch. It was nothing like what his brother would make for him though, so it was hard to eat. 

“You usually come with a lunch, right?” Uraraka directly asked him, forcing him to nod. “Why not today?” She continued, much to Gaara’s dismay. 

“We left the house in a hurry this morning, so my brother didn’t pack me lunch.” Gaara said unaware that this would cause him further grief. Uraraka let out a squeal that sounded much like his sister’s.

“Aww, your brother makes you lunch?” Gaara nodded gravely, how had he ended up with so many loud people in his life so quickly? He was beginning to think he was like a loud person magnet or something. “That is so adorable!! Has he always done that?” 

Gaara thought about this. The more he thought about it the more he realized that his brother had indeed always been there for him, trying to get him as much food as possible under the ever watchful eye of their father. Gaara got a warm feeling as he nodded. This earned another squeal from the girl and miraculously the bell rang, saving Gaara from anymore questions. They headed back to the classroom quickly and upon arriving Uraraka and Iida reunited with the bush and started to talk. Gaara took this opportunity to slink back to his desk with a sigh. He noticed Todoroki’s eyes on him again and grew irritated. He was so done with people today. After what happened yesterday, Gaara had taken it upon himself to always have a container made of sand full of sand on him. He was told that he wasn’t supposed to use his quirk but he quickly formed an eye and covered his left eye with his pointer and middle fingers of his left hand. He floated the eye into Todoroki’s line of sight and the boy recoiled in shock. Gaara turned towards Todoroki and glared at him.

**“Stop staring at me.”** He growled. The class stopped talking immediately and looked at the source of the voice. They had barely heard Gaara speak, much less with so much hostility. Todoroki flinched back at the voice. Unfortunately for Gaara, Aizawa walked into the room to see Gaara’s eye.

“Gaara.” Aizawa said in a deathly calm voice, “I thought you were told not to use your quirk.” Gaara turned his attention to Aizawa with a grimace. This was turning out to be a horrible day. Maybe he just should have listened to his sister and stayed home. 

_“Someone’s in troub-le!”_ Shukaku said childishly. Gaara retrieved the eye and got ready to be punished.

“That’s better. We will talk about this later. You are lucky either of your siblings, or worse, both of them were not here to witness this. You better hope they don’t find out.” Aizawa said. Gaara winced at his words and couldn’t help but wonder what his punishment would be. His father usually sent people to kill him when he did something that he didn’t like, or trash his already bare room and remove anything that his siblings had managed to smuggle him, plus all of his furniture. He is surprised that it had taken Aizawa and Yamada so long to punish him for something. Gaara nodded with understanding and looked down at his desk. 

The rest of the day passed by quickly as Gaara was stuck in his own thoughts. The bell rang like a death toll and Gaara flinched. He stayed in his seat staring at his lap while everyone got up and then he heard a familiar voice. 

“We aren’t just scoping the competition. People that the exam wasn’t suited for that got stuck in General Studies have another chance to join the hero course through the Sport’s Festival, and I for one, intend on doing just that.”


	40. Chapter 37 ~ Time For Me to Retire Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Something similar to a panic attack happens in this chapter! Also past references but nothing in detail.
> 
> Panic attacks are different for everyone that experience them and not everyone is comforted the same way. Little things that may seem normal to some may make things worse. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

“If you don’t give your very best, I will steal your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war.” The purple-haired boy concluded as the crowd went silent. Gaara recognized him as the boy that helped him out the first official day of school. To Gaara the boy’s aura was much more interesting and powerful than some of the others in the class. 

The tense silence was broken by another very loud individual that wasn’t threatening at all. Gaara ignored the screaming and turned his head back to his desk. While he did this, he saw Todoroki staring at the floaty purple-haired boy. 

_“Do you think he understands that it is considered rude to stare at people? Even I know that and I haven’t had the most social interaction.”_ Gaara asked silently. 

_“I dunno, but the object of his stare this time is quite intriguing. I think I like him.”_ Shukaku said, smirking.

Gaara retreated into his thoughts as the sounds of his cheerful classmates faded into the background. Gaara was confused. Life with Yamada and Aizawa was so different than when he lived with his father. He had used his siblings as a tool to survive, with no idea as to what he was surviving for. He had been hurt so often that he learned to just expect it from everyone and everything in his life that he no longer even trusts himself. He was under the belief that people lived to further themselves, and others were just pawns to be used and thrown away in the scramble for power. He believed that his life was pointless, yet he seemed to not be able to die nor able to find meaning. 

Then suddenly others had put themselves into Gaara’s life. He was constantly evaluating people and their actions and finding that somethings just didn’t fit. Although there was no reason for his siblings to take care of him anymore, they were there anyways, with acts that were not justified by Gaara’s view of life. Then there was Yamada and Aizawa. They may have ‘needed’ to take Gaara and his siblings in but they tried to include them and did even more things that Gaara could not explain. Then there was Midoryia and the people that followed him. Gaara didn’t understand what they had to gain from talking to him everyday. Why would they want to establish a friendship where one side had nothing to gain from the other. That is what happened to his last friend. Gaara overgrew his usefulness and was cast aside leaving him hollow. 

Now he saw that he was right. He may not understand their intentions but they just wanted to use him or control him. He thought that he might have found purpose and had begun to rethink his mentality until he had to do something to mess it up. 

~~~

Aizawa watched as all of his students left for the day after the other classes had shown up to knock their ego’s down. However, he noticed that Gaara did not make so much as a twitch even after the last student had left the classroom. Aizawa hesitantly walked up to Gaara. 

“Gaara?” Aizawa asked quietly. Gaara gave no response. “Gaara?” This time he asked a little louder, but Gaara still gave no indication that he heard his name. Aizawa was reluctant to touch Gaara, but seeing as Gaara did not respond to his voice he had little other choice. He moved his hand to rest on Gaara’s shoulder, but where the boy normally would have flinched away from the touch he made no change. Aizawa frowned. It was clear that Gaara was experiencing some sort of mental breakdown, but he wasn’t sure how to proceed. Keeping one eye on Gaara, he went to get his phone,

_Zashi_ ❤️ 

Hey, can you find the twins and head to my room? It’s about Gaara,   
but don’tbe too loud when you come in.

  
I’m on it. I’ll be there as   
soon as possible.

Aizawa put down his phone and crouched down next to Gaara. “I know you probably can’t hear me, but I am going to keep talking to you, ok?” He said not expecting an answer. “Your siblings are on their way and so is Yamada.” Aizawa had a sudden thought. He got up from his crouched position and went to his nap closet. He grabbed the fluffiest blanket he could find and it turned out to be a zebra-stripped one. He hurried back to where Gaara was sitting. Aizawa knew that moving Gaara could possibly cause him more panic when he came to, however wrapping him up in a blanket could help him stay calmer. He did realize that could do the same as moving him, but judging by what Gaara has been through and Yamada’s description of what happened when he was injured, Aizawa decided that it was more likely to comfort the boy. 

“I am going to wrap you up in this blanket now,” Aizawa informed him as he did just that. He had just finished tucking in the ends when the door quietly opened and Yamada and the twins shuffled in. 

“Gaara?” Temari asked quietly in the direction of the human burrito. 

“I think he is having a sort of panic attack, has anything like this happened before? I don’t want to do something to make it worse.” Aizawa asked Temari in a low voice before turning his attention back to Gaara. Temari gave a small head shake and knelt next to Aizawa. “Hey Gaara, your siblings are here now, you are going to be just fine.”

“Gaara,” Temari said sweetly, “Kankuro and I had a very strange day at school today. I am going to tell you about it.” Temari continued to talk to Gaara until he started breathing heavily and his eyes were fogging over. Temari shot a panicked look at Aizawa but her voice remained calm as she continued speaking. Aizawa moved closer to Gaara.

“Gaara, if you can hear me I want you to breathe with me ok?” Aizawa said clearly. He started to do breathing exercises with Gaara until suddenly Gaara blinked and looked up at the people surrounding him in confusion in his eyes. 

“What…?” Gaara blinked again, “Where am I?” 

“You’re in the classroom, I am glad that you are finally back with us.” Aizawa said gruffly. Gaara nodded at that, the last thing he remembered was thinking about what would happen to him once he got home. He remembered hearing purple boy’s voice but nothing clear after that, although he could have heard someone speaking to him but it was very muddled. Gaara shook his head to try and clear it and noticed that he was swaddled up in a blanket. He certainly did not remember that. Aizawa noticed his gaze and sighed. “You were out of it for a while, and I thought the blanket could help.” Gaara involuntarily snuggled into the blanket. He heard a gasp from Temari and instantly he felt attacked. It wasn’t his fault that the blanket was extremely fluffy. 

Aizawa took a deep breath. He really did not want to talk about this so soon after the topic had sent him into a panic, but it needed to be addressed. “Ok, I think it is about time we head home. I need a nap, and I think the rest of you could do with some rest as well.” He said calmly getting up from the floor. 

“Kankuro, do you want to cook dinner tonight?” Yamada asked, suddenly remembering the conversation with Midnight that morning. 

“I always want to cook, the question is, are you actually going to let me this time? ” Kankuro said, apprehensively. 

“Of course!” Yamada said offended, “last time was an accident, I am a creature of habit!” Kankuro rolled his eyes and started out of the classroom mumbling to himself. Gaara was stuck. The blanket was holding him captive. Its fluffiness created a trap that Aizawa had expertly wove around him. Not that Gaara minded, he was perfectly content to stay in the blanket’s hold as the group walked out the door leaving him behind. Gaara sat there content until not thirty seconds later Temari rushed back in to free him from his ‘prison’. 

After being freed from the clutches of the blanket, Gaara collected his school things and followed Temari out of the classroom. The others were waiting for them outside and upon seeing what Gaara was carrying, Aizawa refrained from saying anything about his blanket and they walked to the car in silence. Kankuro and Temari didn’t say anything, but Yamada and Aizawa could tell that they were shaken up about what happened with Gaara. This was further proven when neither of the twins participated in the friendly bickering that was clockwork when they entered the car. Yamada could feel the tense atmosphere and he decided to turn on the radio. 

“Thanks for listening to ‘A Blast from the Past!” A very enthusiastic voice exclaimed from the speakers, “Next up is a request from Sinbad! Here is your song!” 

Suddenly, ‘Bicycle Race’ by Queen was playing and Yamada was speechless. Out of all the songs that could have played it had to be an upbeat tune that he really wanted to sing along to. He was fighting the overwhelming urge to join into the lyrics when the refrain had come up the second time and he gave in. 

The three in the back had visibly relaxed when the quiet music came through the speakers. They couldn’t quite make out the lyrics, but could tell it had an upbeat tune; however, when Yamada joined in with Freddy Mercury, they all were forced to learn the words. 

“I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE, BICYCLE, BICYCLE, I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE, I WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE. I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE I WANT TO RIDE MY-“ Yamada belted out before being silenced by his husband. “Sorry, I tried to resist… but the temptation was too much for me.” 

The song continued to play as Kankuro sputtered out, “What is this song? Bicycle? What?” 

“It is ‘Bicycle Race’ by an old band called Queen! Don’t tell me you have never listened to Queen before? They were one of the most popular bands back in their day, this was before quirks started showing up.” Yamada fanboyed. The three kids behind him just stared blankly at him. “That is it. We are only listening to Queen in this car now. Yup. I am going to give you guys a music education.” This procured a groan from Aizawa because, although loving Queen, Yamada constantly played their music whenever he could, and no matter how much he loved the music, he did not love it THAT much. He knew that Yamada was now dead set on imparting his musical knowledge to the kids. 

The song quickly ended and the next came on but the siblings never got to find out what this one was because they had arrived back at the house. As the twins bolted to their rooms, Aizawa called after them.

“Hey, get changed out of your uniforms then come down the living room, we need to have a talk.” Aizawa said. 

“Shota! You could have said that differently, now they may think something is wrong!” Yamada hissed. Aizawa sighed.

The twins got dressed record fast, while Gaara took a very slow pace. The twins and the couple were sitting on the couch when Gaara finally came down and sat on the floor near the entrance to the living room. 

“Gaara, you can come closer,” Yamada tried, but Gaara didn’t move. “Or you can stay there, whatever makes you more comfortable.” 

“Gaara used his quirk in class today.” Aizawa started flatly. This produced two different reactions. The first was the twins and Yamada, who gasped. The second reaction was from Gaara. Gaara shrunk back against the wall. 

“He is turning out to be a troublemaker like me! I knew he was more like me than Temari!” Kankuro laughed. He was silenced with a stare from Aizawa.

“I told him that we would talk after school and Gaara did not react well. He shut down after class and I would like to know why you would react like that, Gaara?” Aizawa asked, his voice turning soft, different from his usual gruffness, “I was not upset at you, I just didn’t want you to hurt yourself. You need the energy you use for your quirk to heal,” Gaara remained silent against the wall.

“Gaara?” Temari tried. Gaara glances toward her which was more of a reaction than Aizawa got. 

_“Might as well tell them you hate them all to get this all over with.”_ Shukaku said.

“I…” Gaara tried to speak, but turned away, his eyes hazy and distant, “You don’t need me. My father didn’t need me. I failed you and now… bad things… will happen.” Gaara tried explaining. 

Temari attempted to help, “You thought that Aizawa would do the things that father used to do to you?” Gaara nodded. 

Yamada let out a gasp and a sob, “We would never hurt you, Gaara, ok?” Aizawa nodded in agreement.

“What did he do, Gaara?” Aizawa prompted. Gaara looked at Temari pleadingly. Temari got up and came to sit next to Gaara before explaining the many punishments and also the assasination attempts that their father put Gaara through. By the end, both Yamada and Kankuro were sobbing quietly and Aizawa had moved closer to Yamada. Temari picked Gaara up and brought him over to the couch and they all sat for a while in silence. Yamada composed himself and looked at Aizawa who nodded.

“How would you feel if we adopted you?” Yamada asked, squeezing Aizawa’s hand. 


	41. Chapter 38 ~ And Become Rock Lee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter with a title containing words from the Gaara song.

The siblings were going through so many emotions at light speed. Kankuro's brain was going a mile a minute as he sorted through this new information and went through his memories to place it.

"How long... were you thinking about this?" Temari asked with wonder.

"Well, we filled a couple of days after you got here, but we didn't want to say anything unless it went through," Yamada said, "Of course we weren't going to do anything without asking first, though technically we already did since we filled the papers and-" Yamada anxiously rambled.

"I would love it." Temari said, cutting him off, "If you would adopt us. But I am a package deal, Kankuro, Gaara?" Temari could see the gears turning in Kankuro's head.

"Do I still get to make dinner?" Kankuro asked. Yamada nodded and Aizawa sighed. "Then yes, Gaara?" Everyone looked at Gaara.

Gaara was still in his sister's arms seeing as she would not let go so he just buried his head in her shoulder so he didn't have to look at anyone.

" _Wow...hiding from your problems again?"_ Shukaku commented.

 _"Shut up."_ Gaara said lamely.

 _"What are you going to do?"_ Shukaku asked.

 _"If I knew, I wouldn't be talking to you, now would I?"_ Gaara shot back. Gaara didn't want to say no, because if he did, he would lose his brother and sister and for some reason that bothered him. Gaara also didn't understand why they would want to adopt them and therefore didn't trust them, and yet saying no left a feeling in his chest that was very unpleasant.

 _"Just accept it. If it doesn't work out, I'll kill them all, deal?"_ Shukaku sighed. Gaara didn't answer him and looked at Aizawa and gave a nod. Yamada let out a squeal of joy and Aizawa gave a small smile, not that you could see it since his mouth was covered in bandages. Yamada moved to kiss Aizawa, pulling the bandages away from his lips before pulling him in.

"WAIT WHAT?!" Kankuro screamed. Yamada looked at him in fear and confusion. He glanced at Temari who also had a shocked expression on her face. "ARE YOU TWO DATING?!" Kankuro questioned, still not able to comprehend the situation. Temari, on the other hand, was piecing it all together. She always had a feeling something was going on between the two. How much they cared about each other, how they slept together, and their cute nicknames for eachother.

Yamada and Aizawa looked between each other before back at the kids. It wasn't like they had been hiding it, the topic had simply never come up. The thought never even crossed their minds that they should explicitly say they were in a relationship, and were in fact married.

"Um, well you see... uh" Yamada attempted and failed at explaining. He wasn't quite sure how to word it, nor how the kids would take it. His partner, Aizawa, couldn't be more different.

"Yamada and I are married. We have been for the last nine years," Aizawa proudly stated. Yamada's head snapped towards his husband in shock at his bluntness, before turning back to the kids, concerned about their reaction. The room stayed silent for one long minute before Temari made the first sound... her coined high pitched squeal.

"THAT IS ADORABLE!! I KNEW YOU TWO HAD TO HAVE BEEN DATING OR SOMETHING! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!" Temari shouted, before going on to bombard the couple with questions. "WHAT WAS YOUR WEDDING LIKE? WAS THERE A LOT OF PEOPLE? WHAT FLOWERS DID YOU HAVE? DID YOU HAVE FLOWERS? WHAT COLOR WERE YOUR SUITS? HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO BEEN TOGETHER? WHERE DID YOU MEET?" Temari seemed to have no off switch for questions, as Aizawa began regretting telling them.

"N-now why don't we save the questions for after dinner? It's getting late," Yamada nervously suggested. He was still quite happy about Temari's enthusiasm, but felt overwhelmed by her whole demeanor. Temari seemed satisfied with that, happy to know that she would still get her answers. Now, the attention turned to the other two, who were much quieter than their sister.

"W-wait... so all this time..." Kankuro struggled to find any words, as everything in his mind seemed to be shutting down. "Y-you're... married?" Kankuro asked again, trying to grasp onto any kind of conscious thinking he could before he collapsed from the shock of it.

"Well I guess my little bro isn't making dinner now." Temari commented, watching Kankuro. She looked at her youngest brother who was characteristically being quiet. Gaara was staring at Kankuro with an amused look in his eyes, surprise not even hinted on his face. "You're not even a little bit surprised, Gaara?"

"No. I can hear things from my room sometimes when they haven't gone up to their room at night." Gaara said, "I heard them talking about their anniversary. I just assumed that you guys knew." Yamada's face went red as he turned to his husband, having never thought about the boy's insomniac tendencies in that way. They both were going to have to speak quieter at night now, or watch what they say.

"You can hear them?" Temari asked, her eyes widening. "Do you hear... everything?" Temari began to ask. Yamada shot up from his spot.

"That's enough of this conversation! I'm feeling quite hungry, Shota, would you mind helping me get dinner ready?" Yamada asked, trying to hide the blush on his face. Aizawa sighed before standing up and heading to the kitchen. "Temari," Yamada began, glancing at the small bean who was still in her lap. "When you can, pick up Kankuro and put him on the couch so he isn't just on the floor," Yamada said before going off to join Aizawa in the kitchen.

Gaara finally escaped from Temari's questioning when dinner was ready. Conveniently, and much to Kankuro's disdain, he woke up to the smell of hamburgers. After much convincing from Temari, Kankuro grudgingly stomped into the kitchen with Temari close behind. Dinner was filled with much joyful chatting and many assurances that Kankuro would be given full reign over the kitchen for the next month at least.

After dinner, Temari ushered everyone out to the living room while she enlisted Kankuro to help her with the dishes. Gaara went upstairs only to return with the blanket that he had taken from the classroom. Gaara hesitated before he sat on a recliner adjacent to the couch where Aizawa and Yamada were sitting and bundling up with the blanket. Aizawa decides to try and break the ice.

"That blanket is quite fluffy, right?" Aizawa asked. Gaara drew the blanket closer to him and narrowed his eyes as if Aizawa were going to take it from him. Aizawa raised his hands, "You can keep it! I have dozens of blankets stashed all around the school just in case." Gaara relaxed and continued to sit quietly.

Temari and Kankuro quickly finished cleaning up and joined them in the living room, both sitting on the recliner opposite Gaara. "I need answers. With lots of details. The more details the better." Yamada was about to start answering her questions from earlier when the two cats decided they wanted to be a part of the group.

The two had come sauntering in together and glanced around, but as soon as they realized everyone was hunkered down, they split off. Mustachio, the black and white cat, went to his favorite human. He hopped onto the couch and promptly snuggled his way into Aizawa's lap, while glaring at Yamada the whole time. Mustachio never liked it when Yamada tried stealing his human from him.

Swirls, on the other hand, went to the recliner where the red haired bean sat curled up. The savannah cat could tell something had happened to the boy that day and felt a strong need to be near him. The cat jumped onto the chair, and inevitably, the boy's lap, when the cat realized there was a very soft blanket there. Everyone watched in silence as the cat began purring and kneading the zebra-patterned blanket. They weren't quite sure how the possessive boy would react to the cat on his blanket, especially after the way he reacted to Aizawa merely mentioning it. However, their fears were quickly quelled as Gaara, slowly and carefully, wrapped his arms around the cat, pulling it close.

Swirls, having never been the aggressive type, let it happen and curled up in the boy's arms as he cuddled the blanket and the cat. Yamada stared at the two for a few moments, trying his best not to squeal. Though it was Temari who had the hardest time, and even needed Kankuro's help to not disturb the adorable bean.

"Well, now that we're all here..." Yamada said, pulling everyone's attention away from Gaara and Swirls. "The best way for me to answer your questions would be with a scrapbook I made with Nemuri," Yamada said.

"Also known as Midnight, the pro hero," Aizawa interjected, noticing the kids' confusion.

"That's in the bookshelf over there, if one of you don't mind grabbing it," Yamada said, motioning towards the bookshelf alongside one of the walls. "It is the large green one labeled Memories ," Yamada added as Temari popped up. She went over, scanning through the large collection of books varying in genre before pulling out a large green book that was mostly handmade.

"Got it!" Temari announced, bringing it back over to the group and handing it to Yamada. Yamada set it on the coffee table in front of the couch and everyone, including Gaara holding Swirls, crowded around. Yamada opened the book to the first page.

"This scrapbook starts at our wedding, we have pictures before that but they aren't in a scrapbook." Yamada says. The page is filled with pictures with younger versions of the couple. "Nemuri had us go with a Yin and Yang theme, I think she just wanted to wear a black and gold dress..." Yamada trailed off reminiscing. Yamada had a white suit and a gold tie, Aizawa had a black suit with the same gold tie, and sure enough Nemuri had a black and gold dress with white flowers in her hair. "Nemuri was our best woman, as she liked to call herself. We had a small wedding, but it was enough for us. These people here are the hero team known as the wild wild pussycats, we had become friends with them after a mission that Shota took part in with them. I think the only reason that Shota tolerates them is because of their cat-like nature," Yamada said, pointing at a picture with three obnoxiously happy people, two women and one man. Aizawa just sighed, deciding to ignore that comment. Next to that one was a picture of the couple kissing, which was after they exchanged vows.

The next picture was of a massive wedding cake that matched the colors of the two grooms. "Even though there were not very many people at the wedding, Hizashi insisted on a huge cake that left us with too many leftovers, even after we sent everyone home with some." Aizawa grumbed out.

"But it was good right!" Yamada defended turning the page. The next page had a picture of Yamada shoving a piece of the cake onto Aizawa's face, instead of into his mouth where it was supposed to go. The picture immediately under that was a very disgruntled Aizawa returning the favor. The rest of the photos were of all of the guests laughing and dancing at the reception. There was a picture of one of the wild wild pussycats holding the bouquet that Aizawa claimed that Nemuri made him throw. Yamada turned the page again and the new one had a black background instead of a silver one.

"These are pictures of us during our honeymoon! We didn't travel anywhere since we are both pro heroes, but we booked a fancy hotel room and had a lot of fun!" Aizawa exclaimed. There were pictures of them at the pool, a restaurant, a casino, and a few other places. The next few pages of the book were all of the house and the cats. "Shota had Swirls before we moved into this house but Shota brought Mustachio home the second day we moved in. I am sure that he would have brought more home but I told him no more cats till we have children... so... if you guys still will allow us to adopt you, I am thinking that it is very likely to happen soon." He said nervously.

"We said yes, didn't we?" Temari said, tearing up and Kankuro nodded in agreement. With this being said, Yamada was soon sobbing into Aizawa's shoulder and both Kankuro and Temari were crying, moving forward for a group hug. Temari grabbed a very confused Gaara and Swirls, bringing them into the hug.

 _"Well, enjoy the moment while it lasts, but you know from experience that this will only end in pain. Whether it be their pain or yours."_ Shukaku warned.

 _"Shut up. This time will be different."_ Gaara claimed, "I'll make sure of it." Gaara finished, relaxing into the hug.


	42. Chapter 39 ~ Killer Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! The next three weeks in the story will be interesting! We have plans *evil villain laugh* and we hope you enjoy them! This chapter got a little deeper and longer than we intended, but we think it turned out great! 

Gaara sighed as he sat through Homeroom. Aizawa was very grumpy this morning as he did not get very much sleep last night, neither did anyone else for that matter. They had all stayed in a hug for literally an hour, being held captive by Yamada and Temari. After that, Yamada pulled them all into the kitchen for celebratory brownies that he had made the morning that they got home from the hospital. The brownies had inspired yet another crying session from Temari and a knowing Kankuro tried hopelessly to comfort her. Nothing anyone tried seemed to calm her down until Gaara, who claims that he only did this because she wouldn’t stop crying, hugged Temari, which made the waterworks worse until she was reduced to quiet sniffles as she hung onto Gaara for dear life. This led to them going to bed in the later morning hours and Gaara being left very emotionally drained. 

This led to a study hour as the teacher slept in his yellow sleeping bag in the front. Todoroki, along with the rest of the class, all had different levels of discretion while staring at him. Gaara could feel all of their eyes on him; however, so any attempt to hide the stares was useless. 

English class was next. Yamada came into the room skipping, but the moment he saw Gaara he started to cry. No one knew why he was crying, except Gaara and Shukaku of course, and were very confused at the behavior from their teacher. Gaara put all of the blame on Yamada for this. If the man had not kept them all up last night with brownies, he wouldn’t be so tired and emotional. 

The ever annoying and mediling green bush asked if Yamada was alright after a moment of hesitation. This snapped Yamada out of whatever funk he was in and returned to his normal bubbly state and he apologized. Yamada then proceeded as if nothing had happened.

“Alright listeners! As promised we are going to be reading an old book to practice our English in context! So I’d like everyone to come up and get a copy of 'Of Mice And Men' ,while writing down what number you get on this slip of paper,” Yamada instructed while motioning towards the paper and books. Sluggishly, every student went up and got a book. It took longer than Yamada had planned for, but after about 15 minutes, everyone had a copy. “Now you can read the introductions to yourselves, to get a feel for the english vibes, and in a little bit, I’ll call on a few of you to read some from Chapter 1!” Yamada eagerly said. The class struggled through the old english of the book and Yamada gave them another good fifteen minutes to become acquainted with the strange style before Yamada continued, "I like having students read this book because it brings questions about morals and if something is just right and wrong or if there is a grey area, perfect for aspiring heroes to question. Ok! Anyone want to volunteer?" Yamada got no volunteers, even Momo who usually volunteered or Iida, did not raise their hands. "Ok then, I have a method right here for solving the issue!" Yamada pulls out from his bag a textbook sized wheel with all of their names on it, "I got this idea from an old game! I just spin the wheel," as he said this he did just so "aaaannnd whoever it lands on will read!" Yamada watched with a sinking feeling as the pointer landed on Gaara.

In retrospect he should have just called on someone. The one student that Yamada knew couldn't read English, let alone an advanced old dialect of it just had to be the one it landed on. "Um… Gaara… you um… read the first paragraph?" Gaara sighed and gave a nod. Yamada started preparing himself for his inevitable murder over his first failure as a father. Gaara opened his mouth and Yamada cringed as Gaara began perfectly reciting the words on the page, without even a stutter. The only error that he seemed to make was with the punctuation. 

Yamada joined the rest of Gaara's classmates in staring at Gaara with slack jaws. "Um… thank you Gaara, who would like to read next?" Yamada couldn't believe that a boy who five days ago could barely recite the English alphabet was now reading like a linguist. He knew the boy was a genius, but this took it to a whole new level. He called on Momo and vaguely listened to the description of the scenery and the introductions of the characters. _‘Well, I guess that I am not going to die yet.’_ Yamada thought to himself. They somehow made it through chapter one of the book although it was a little rough in some patches. 

Yamada waved to the class and left the classroom, heading to the staff room where Aizawa was lying in the corner seemingly asleep. 

“You’re making another class read ‘Of Mice and Men’?” The caterpillar asked. Yamada went over to the corner and sat down. 

“Yes! I think it has things that the kids really should think about and should realize that all people are people. They need to see how far our society has come and how far it has yet to go.” Yamada defended.

“Still, I would not wish that book upon anyone. I feel bad for the kids.” Aizawa mourned gazing up at Yamada. 

“I can’t believe that you still have a grudge on that book just because the ending made you cry.” Yamada said, exasperated. 

“The book is messed up! Like seriously messed up! Just don’t be surprised if all your copies of that book suddenly go missing and a bag of ashes shows up on your doorstep.” Aizawa mumbled, “Now get to your next class before you’re late.” 

“Don’t you dare hurt a single page of a book or I will never bring you coffee in bed again!” Yamada exclaimed before glancing at his watch, “I’ll be watching you.” Yamada walked out of the staff room and Aizawa went back to his nap.

_**~~~**_

The rest of Gaara’s morning classes were normal, well as normal as you can get with insane classmates, with the addition of intense stares and a few questions that Gaara avoided narrowly. Before he knew it, it was time for lunch. 

  
Gaara could no longer count the amount of people he had to avoid at lunch time. He had been told by Aizawa earlier, that he would only be allowed to join back in with hero training if Recovery Girl gives the all clear. Unfortunately, as soon as the bell rang he was surrounded faster than sharks to blood by the bush gang. “I have to go to Recovery Girl’s office.” Gaara said, trying to save himself.

“But didn’t you just go yesterday?” Uraraka asked, confused. 

“He was just injured, Uraraka! She needs to check on his healing progress.” Iida explained, saving Gaara from having to say anything else. The gang allowed him to pass through to the hallway and to Recovery Girl’s office. However, they followed him to the office only to wait outside like the day before. Gaara sighed and just opened the door, trying to ignore the three friends. 

“Oh, Hello Gaara!” Recovery Girl said when she noticed him. “I am guessing you are here to see if you can train again?” Gaara gave a nod and moved closer to her. Recovery Girl gestured for him to show her his arm and he obliged. She let out a surprised hum, “Well, you still are not cleared for class, but it is healing very well. You should come by tomorrow and I can check again.” Gaara let out yet another sigh and closed his eyes in annoyance. When he opened them, he was confronted with a bright light in his eye that caused him to recoil. “Your eyes look strained and your skin has a faint yellow tint, are you sure you are taking the medication that slows your healing?” She asked with a frown that deepened when Gaara gave another nod. “Well, since you can’t sleep to regain energy, I am giving you vitamins and orders to eat more,” she raised her voice, “Whoever is out there, why don’t you come in.” Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida came into the office. _‘Great it is problem child #1 that I am trusting with the health of problem child #2.’_ She thought to herself. “Gaara needs to eat a lot of food for the next few days, make sure he gets lunch.” She ordered.

“Will do!” Uraraka said, already pulling Gaara out of the office. Gaara shot one last pleading look at Recovery Girl, before he was pulled all the way to the cafeteria. Gaara looked mournfully in the direction of the classroom where his bento made by his brother sat. “Guess we will be getting you lunch! Let’s get in line!” Uraraka cheered and remembered something, “Didn’t you say that your brother made you lunch, where is it?” 

“It is in the classroom.” Gaara said, dejected. Uraraka let out a gasp.

“Oh I am so sorry! Let’s go find your brother, maybe he has extra.” Uraraka suggested. Gaara did not like this idea but he had no choice as he was dragged toward the direction of his brother and co. They arrived at their destination before he could blink. The octopus **_(because when octopi are afraid they let out ink to hide XD)_** hid behind the large annoying boy. “Hello Gaara-kun’s brother! We kinda drug Gaara away before he could grab his lunch. He hates the school lunch and he has been told by Recovery Girl that he needs to eat lots! We were wondering if you had anything for him.” 

“I have prepared for this day!” Kankuro declared, giving a confused Gaara his lunch while he himself pulled out melon bread. 

“You just want an excuse to eat melon bread.” Temari accused. 

“So you are the fabled friends?” Kankuro asked.

“Yup!” Uraraka said, “This is Midoriya, and this one is Iida. It is nice to formally meet you, Gaara has told us so much about you!” 

“It is nice to meet you too! I am Kankuro, although you probably already know that, you know my twin sis, Temari, Nemari is the one next to her, Mirio is the blonde one, and Amajiki is hiding behind him, he isn’t too keen on social interaction.” Kankuro said. 

“Thank you for the food! We will make sure Gaara eats it!” Uraraka promised. 

“Nice to meet you!” Midoriya smiled being pulled away by Uraraka. 

“Yes. It was very nice to meet you.” Iida said with a bow, before following the others back to their normal table. Conveniently, the Bush Gang all had bentos today as well so they did not have to wait in the lunch line. Gaara ate his lunch slowly trying to avoid questions but it failed. 

“Your ability to read the passage today was quite amazing. I never would have realized that you were that accomplished in English.” Iida complemented. Gaara shrugged.

“Reading is just fine, but spelling is harder. I guess that will come with more practice than a few days worth.” Gaara explained. This made all three of the friends’ jaws drop. 

“A few days?” Midoriya asked, stunned.

“Yes.” Gaara stated.

“I have been learning English since I was in kindergarten and I can barely get through Mic-sensi’s class.” Uraraka said, baffled.

“Yes?” Gaara asked.

“How!? How did you become so, like, good at English in only days? Like are you a polyglot?” Uraraka asked.

“I don’t think so,” Gaara said confused, “I just memorized the textbook.” He did say he had a photographic memory, so he didn’t understand the fuss. 

“Just because you have a photographic memory doesn’t explain how you can suddenly understand an entire language. I have a really good memory and it is hard for me to use that information even after processing it for a couple of weeks.” Iida said, also confused. Gaara just shrugged and continued eating, leaving the table to drop the topic. Lunch took forever to be over, but they were soon headed back to their classroom to get ready for hero training. 

Gaara did not bother to get changed since he was not allowed to participate. He did not listen to what All Might said about the plan for the day as he followed the class to a field, where he moved to the sidelines and sat down.

_“I think we should play a game, something like… how many of them can we get to kill each other before the pros stop them, wait… I think we could get Aizawa to kill the entire class and most of the staff, wanna try?”_ Shukaku asked.

“No.” Gaara said, annoyed.

_“But I’m booooooorredddddd”_ Shukaku whined. 

“So am I, but I am not being a pain about it.” Gaara snapped. 

_“Whoa, did Todoroki just kick whoever that is that he is sparing with?”_ Shukaku admired, “ Sure could be cool if you could do that, too bad you’re a wimp.” 

“It’s not like I had the health or the ability to learn to fight like that.” Gaara shot back.

_“Ok, that was partially my fault… but now you can learn how to fight! You are even living with an expert in hand to hand combat! Take advantage of this!”_ Shukaku encouraged. Gaara didn’t want to have to agree with him, but he could find nothing wrong with the idea. 

“Fine. I’ll talk with him about it later.” Gaara resigned. Gaara decides to ignore everyone for the rest of the school day because Shukaku had a good idea for once. 

**_~~~_**

  
Gaara thought his day couldn’t possibly get worse as he entered their car. He was instantly proved wrong the moment Yamada connected his phone to the car stereo.

“I forgot about my task this morning because I was so tired, but luckily, I now am ready to perform my duty.” Yamada solemnly declared, searching through his phone. “This song is called ‘Killer Queen’. There are a lot of old pop culture references contained in the song and also a lot of things in history. It was released in 1974 and it was the first song of Queen’s to be popular in America, and was extremely popular in the United Kingdom.” Yamada finished his introduction of the song and hit the play button. The soft sound of snapping started the song and it continued with a rock feel.

Kankuro seemed to enjoy this one, but Gaara couldn't tell if Temari liked it or not. He himself really didn't like it because Yamada did, and this meant the man was singing loudly. Thankfully, when the song was over Yamada turned off the music and settled for asking the siblings about their day and what Kankuro planned on making for dinner tonight. Kankuro replied that it was a surprise, but he had checked this morning and he had everything he needed to make it. 

When they got home Kankuro quickly got changed and headed back downstairs and to the kitchen. He had to shoo a hovering Yamada away multiple times because he was pestering him with questions like: what are you making? Can I help you? I'll chase away the cats, ok?

Yamada finally gave up, and went upstairs to do who knows what while Kankuro worked. It was weird for him to think that they had been with Yamada and Aizawa for only a week. It has felt like months since their bleak and grey world suddenly started getting splashes of color. Kankuro was happy that the couple had taken them in, and Gaara seemed to be growing so much and becoming happier, which was the reason he agreed to let Aizawa and Yamada adopt them. 

If it had just been him and Temari, Kankuro would have probably denied the request. He wasn't sure how he feels about having parents again. However, there was Gaara.

Kankuro and Temari would graduate after this year, but Gaara still would have two more years of high school and Kankuro needed to make sure that he was with people that would take good care of him. Gaara deserved more family than just him and Temari, and Kankuro was convinced, even with only seven days of living with the couple, that Aizawa and Yamada were the ones to fill the empty places in Gaara's life. 

As Kankuro called everyone to dinner he smiled when Gaara's face became softer when he saw the Fettuccine Alfredo on the table, how Temari glowed when talking with Yamada, and how Gaara could be so at ease with others around.

"-kuro, Kankuro?" Kankuro was brought out of his thoughts and he looked up, "Are you alright there?" Aizawa asked softly. Kankuro hadn't realized that the table had gone silent and they were all staring at him.

"Yeah! I just was lost in thought there for a minute…" Kankuro trailed off.

"What were you thinking about?" Temari asked.

"Oh nothing, just about like how a lot has changed recently…" Kankuro started, "It's nice to see my family so happy…" Kankuro did not mean to get emotional but he started crying quietly.

Aizawa leaned over and ruffled Kankuro's hair, "You're our family too, kid." Kankuro smiled, tears threatening to come to his eyes that he fought down before they saw the light of day. Temari got up from the table to give Kankuro a hug and Yamada followed shortly after with a quick squeeze. 

“We should have had you cook dinner when you first got here, that was amazing!” Yamada said to the surprised twins, who looked at Yamada’s dish to see that it was in fact empty, “I hate to dine and dash but I go back to work today!” Yamada ran to the door before immediately running back to give Shota a short kiss. “Bye guys!!!!” Yamada yelled as the front door slammed. **_(And just like that, he was gone, never to be heard from again, or so Gaara hoped.)_**

“Uhhhhh… does he teach night classes or something?” Kankuro asked, confused. Aizawa let out a snort.

“No, he has another job. He hosts a radio show on Friday nights. He got the job to have something to do when I was on hero work and also the man loves music. We took a week off from work to make sure you guys got situated,” Aizawa explained, “ well Yamada took time off, I was forced to.” he added as an afterthought, voice bitter. 

“OH! We used to listen to his show when we were younger and we were still allowed to have radios in our home…” Temari trailed off, “I can’t believe I forgot!” 

“Oh yeah!” Kankuro remembered, “We used to stay up past our bedtime to listen to it, it was the only thing that was consistent at home.”

“You did?” Gaara asked softly looking down, pushing his food around. Temari and Kankuro exchanged a panicked glance and thought about what to say.

“How about you guys listen to it tonight, together?” Aizawa offered, “I’ll bring the radio down from my bedroom and we can hook it up in the living room. There are a lot of blankets in the house so you can all sleep out there tonight.” Gaara looked utterly mortified at the idea, he had just been free of the loud man after all, until blankets were mentioned and he decided that he would suffer through it for his sibling’s sake.

“That sounds like fun!” Temari shouted, and Kankuro nodded enthusiastically. “Gaara, are you up to that?” Gaara gave a grave nod, and his siblings hurried upstairs to get ready. Gaara looked hesitantly up at Aizawa.

“Yes child?” Aizawa sighed. Gaara debated a minute before speaking up. 

“Train me?" Gaara questioned trying to form something that made sense, and that wasn't what Shukaku was suggesting.

"Huh?" Aizawa blinked, obviously confused. Gaara sighed.

"I am not physically able to fight, would you help me, so I can defend people." Gaara tried, hoping this got the point across and he wouldn't have to explain further. Conversing with people is hard, how does everyone else do it so well.

_'Well except for Todoroki,'_ Gaara thought, _'all he does is stare at people, I don't think that is exactly effective communication.'_ Aizawa looked at him with intrigue. 

"I think that is a good idea. We can work something out later. Why don't you go and get whatever you want from upstairs before you get stuck down here?" Aizawa said. They both headed upstairs, Gaara to get the evil fluff blanket and things to keep busy, and Aizawa to get the radio. 

By the time Gaara went back downstairs, Aizawa had plugged in the radio and the twins were setting blankets on the floor. Gaara was confused. There were two recliners and a sofa, yet they were going to lie on the floor? Gaara supposed he couldn't judge them since he also opted to pick the floor recently. 

“Gaara! Come set up next to me!” Temari exclaimed. 

“No, Gaara come set up next to me!” Kankuro whined. Temari scoffed.

“You like me better, right Gaara?” Temari asked with a pouting face. Gaara quickly glanced between the two confused. Kankuro then gasped, seemingly horrified by Temari’s question.

“Are you trying to make Gaara choose between his siblings?! How could you!” Kankuro exclaimed, before looking away with an expression that said ‘I’m so much better.’ “Besides, if he was to choose, the obvious choice would be me, since I recently saved his life,” Kankuro added a bit softer.

“How about if Gaara is put in between you two?” Aizawa pleaded. The twins looked at him in horror.

“No! I have to be next to Kankuro and Gaara, besides that is not the point here.” She said to Aizawa, before turning to Kankuro again, “Saving his life is a part of the job description of being a sibling, it’s not anything you get kudos for!” Temari argued. Kankuro scoffed at Aizawa’s suggestion.

“Yeah, (It’s so tempting to put Dadzawa here), haven’t you ever fought with your siblings?” Kankuro asked, before turning his attention back to his sister. “And it’s not like you’ve done anything big lately. All you’ve done is cling to his side 24/7, so the least you could do is let me sit next to him,” Kankuro shot back.

“No, I haven’t. The only person that I considered my brother died.” Aizawa said gruffly. This instantly stopped the twins bickering and they simultaneously got up and hugged Gaara tight before pulling him and his things down to the blankets below. Gaara had given up at this point, he decided he would escape when they fell asleep. Without further ado, Aizawa turned on the radio and flipped to the channel that had Yamada’s show. All of the arguing meant that they were right on time for the start of the show, which was very convenient. 

“Hello listeners! Thank you for joining me on another night of Put Your Hands Up Radio!” Yamada’s voice cheered through the radio, “I hope you enjoyed the guest host last week, shoutout to Akiashi Haruka for covering for me! Tonight we have a playlist of rock music inspired by some people that came in my life recently! I promise I won’t play any Queen tonight… well not a lot anyways… and of course we have a mix of new and old hits as usual! First up we have ‘Rebuild the Streets’ by The Rescue Crew, which was just released today! Remember you heard it here first!” 

Music started to play and Yamada would occasionally introduce another song or simply make a comment about something. He answered a few questions from callers and as time wore on Aizawa joined them in listening, a smile cracking his bandaged face as he heard how happy his husband was. 

It was eleven o’clock before both Temari and Kankuro were asleep, curled up against Gaara. Aizawa had fallen asleep hours ago on the couch, Gaara had been surprised he had lasted that long. Mustachio was sleeping near Aizawa before the man was asleep, but as soon as he was out, the cat moved to Aizawa’s head to sleep instead. 

Swirls was lying near Gaara’s head, wanting to avoid the boy’s siblings. Gaara was holding the fluffy blanket close, for once in his life wishing that he could be asleep with them. 

_**~~~** _

  
When Yamada arrived home, it was well into the morning hours. He took one look at the scene in the living room and smiled. He disappeared upstairs to get changed before coming back into the room. He turned off the radio and quietly joined Aizawa on the couch, shooing Mustachio from Aizawa’s head. Gaara watched silently, until Swirls let out a mrow causing Yamada to look over at him and freeze. 

_‘I forgot Gaara didn’t sleep.’_ Yamada thought to himself as he looked at the boy shooting him a smile. Yamada’s heart swelled as he saw Gaara had made no move to remove himself from his siblings’ grasp and snuggled into Aizawa, before drifting off to sleep himself.


	43. Chapter 40 ~ Radio Ga Ga

Gaara blinked as a short sharp pain worked its way up his arm. Recovery Girl was taking his big bulky cast off, since she said it had surprisingly healed enough. The day had passed pretty quickly and without complications, much to Gaara’s relief. The day had begun with Yamada plugging the radio back in and blasting ‘Radio Ga Ga’ to wake up the three that were sleeping. This rescued Gaara from his siblings’ arms as they stretched. When they were more awake they laughed at Yamada’s choice seeing as they were listening to his radio last night. 

To say Aizawa was annoyed that he had been woken up in this manner was an understatement. But he had admitted to himself that he deserved it for sleeping in the living room, and he was always upset at being woken up.

In the car, Gaara had decided that Aizawa was his hero as the man had persuaded Yamada not to play Queen in the car during morning drives, so Gaara had a peaceful ride to school. 

His classmates didn’t try and bother him today, and his classes were all easy. The book Yamada had been having them read Gaara had finished last night, he had snuck a copy home, and his classmates had no idea what they were in for. If Shukaku called a book good, that ment that it was certainly not a happy one. Gaara wasn’t sure how to feel about the book, George acted in a way that Gaara would expect from people, yet he still felt a twinge of what he recognized as both anger and pain. Gaara shook his head, it didn’t matter. 

At lunch, he went straight to Recovery Girl’s office making sure to grab his lunch first just in case he got kidnapped after the visit again. Just like yesterday the Bush Gang followed him and waited outside while Recovery Girl delivered the same annoying news she had yesterday. Then she started to take off the cast while Gaara was lost in thought. 

Gaara was brought back when Recovery Girl started wrapping his arm in white bandage. “You should start building up muscles again. A lot of your arm was damaged and your body replaced a lot of the tendons very quickly. It will be hard to move until you build back up that regular muscle, but do not overdo it, you’ll just make it worse on yourself.” She said carefully, “Also get Aizawa to re-wrap that for you if you have to take it off. Do not go more than twenty minutes without it on.” Gaara nodded, “I’ll make sure that Aizawa gets these instructions and you still look like you need more food. Did you take the vitamins I gave you yesterday?” Gaara thought back to yesterday. He remembered having the pills that he got from the hospital with dinner but he didn’t remember taking the ones he had gotten from Recovery Girl. He shook his head. 

“Tsk.” Recovery Girl made a disproving sound and got up to go to the medical cabinet, “Here,” she said, handing him a few pills, “I want you to take these right now so I know you are taking them. Don’t take them at night and come again before lunch tomorrow to get more.” Gaara took the pills without water and Recovery Girl was exasperated. “Now go eat lunch.”

Gaara wanted to ask if he could eat in her office instead of with the people waiting outside, but then he realized that eating with her would probably be worse as she would force more food on him. 

Gaara peeked out the door to see the Bush Gang chatting excitedly, not paying attention to the entrance. He decided that this was his chance to escape. He had two options: running for it, or using his sand to carry him away. He decided the sand would be faster, yet risky because Recovery Girl could see him. 

Midoriya started turning around and Gaara made his decision. He brought out his sand and sped down the hallway. He ignored the shouts of the gang as he got away, going down an unfamiliar hallway. He decided that he got far enough away when he no longer heard shouts of his name. 

Gaara had his bento and he decided that he would sit in this hallway, with no windows and no doors, and eat it. He was happily munching on whatever it was that his brother had made. He didn’t know and he could care less **_(That means you do care; at least a little….)_** it was good. 

‘ _Of course it is good, Kankuro made it_ ’ his inner voice chided. Gaara was starting to think that Shukaku’s annoying comments were starting to be absorbed into his personality. 

“ _Well, you don’t seem to need me anymore. I’ll just go on vacation I guess… maybe somewhere sunny? With volcanoes, I wanna see destruction.”_ Shukaku said. Gaara ignored him as he contemplated his previous thought until a shadow passed over him. 

“This is the second time I have met you in a hallway… did you get lost again or something?” A familiar voice asked. Gaara looked up to see the tired purple boy leaning over him. Gaara thought for a minute, was he lost? He looked around and he realized that he didn’t recognize anything around him.

“Maybe?” Gaara questioned, turning back to his lunch and continued to eat. Floof started walking away before Gaara heard his footsteps coming back, only for the boy to sink down beside him. 

“I guess I can’t leave you here if you don’t know where you are…that wouldn’t be very heroic of me.” Shinso sighed. Gaara turned yet again to study Floof’s face. He noticed the dark eye bags under his eyes that are like both his and Aizawa’s, although he looked more like Aizawa.

“Do you not sleep either?” Gaara asked, innocently. It was Shinso’s turn to look at him. He stared for a few minutes while Gaara just continued eating.

“Um, yeah I am an insomniac, I find it extremely hard to sleep, why?” Shinso finally said.

“You’re like me, I don’t sleep either, and you looked like you didn’t sleep.” Gaara answered, finishing his lunch. 

“Oh?” Shinso raised an eyebrow, “and why don’t you sleep?”

“I have an annoying being inside of me that will likely kill everyone if I fall asleep by taking over my body.” Gaara answered, putting the containers from his lunch back in the cloth.

_“*gasp* rude!!!!”_ Shukaku said. 

_“Did you literally say the word gasp… really?”_ Gaara sighed.

_“I can’t believe you are so uncultured, *sigh*, you need to get out more.”_ Shukaku answered.

“Um… ok then that makes sense.” Shinso muttered, “I guess I can help find your way back to class now, or wherever you are going this time.” With that, purple floof stood up, seemingly waiting for Gaara to follow suit. Gaara was slightly confused by the sudden declaration. Wasn’t that why he had stayed in the first place? 

Gaara told him that he needed to get back to class and Shinso started leading him down the hallways.

They had to have been close to their destination when they were intercepted by Temari. "Where have you been? Your friends have been worried about you!" She questioned, before noticing Shinso, "Oh hello! I see now, you just wanted to spend lunch with your other friend! He could have just joined the group," she rambled wiggling her eyebrows, " unless you wanted to be alone." 

"Yes. I wanted to be alone." Gaara said bored. Temari lit up mischievously. 

"Alone alone!" Shinso said quickly, "I just came across him and he was lost!" 

"That makes more sense." Temari sighed, dejected, "Thank you for helping my brother! I am Temari!" She looked at the floof expecting an introduction.

"I am Shinso Hitoshi. I guess the whole no family name runs in the family." He said with a snort. 

“Yeah it kinda does.” Temari said, a somber note in her voice. Hearing this, Shinso decides to drop the subject. “Well thank you for leading my socially-avoiding brother back to his classroom.” 

“You’re welcome, I guess,” Shinso sighed. The first bell that signified the end of lunch rang, “I should be going now,” he started walking away but turned back as more students started busying the hallways, “bye.” He said, and continued walking away.

Temari turned to Gaara, “I am so glad you seem to have made another friend!” She gave him a hug and hurried off to her own class before she was late. Gaara stood there for a second before shaking his head and looking around him. Thankfully he recognized his surroundings and made his way to class before the final bell. 

Gaara didn’t feel like going to hero training today. He really did not feel like being stuck with only Shukaku to talk to and only his classmates to watch for amusement. Midoriya caught his annoyance and walked up to him. 

“Hey Gaara! Um… I had this spare notebook, and I um… was wonderingifyouwantedittodrawinorwriteorsomethingyoucouldeventearoutallthepagesanddoorigamiorjustmakeitintoballsandthrowitatpeopleor-“ Midoriya was cut off by Uraraka who had nudged him, “Oh sorry.”

“Sure?” Gaara said, taking the notebook. Again Gaara did not listen to whatever the loud annoying man was saying in the front of the class, and just aimlessly followed his classmates. He had grabbed a pencil before leaving the classroom, so when he sat down and opened the notebook, he set both the pencil and the notebook down just to stare at them. 

Gaara had not drawn anything since before the first attempt on his life. The first person that he was acquainted with outside of his family was absolutely obsessed with it. The boy had got Gaara to draw or paint with him whenever they saw each other. He hadn’t drawn since he ~~died~~ went away. 

“ _Wimp. Just draw or something already!”_ Shukaku whined, extremely bored. 

“Fine. Just leave me alone.” Gaara grumbled, picking the things back up again then pushing the pencil to the first page. Gaara began to just draw, with Shukaku remaining strangely silent as he worked. 

“Whatcha drawing?” A cheery voice spoke from beside him. Gaara jumped, he was so immersed in his drawing that he did not notice the person that had walked up to him. He looked up to see the red spiky boy that hung around the blond angry boy all of the time. Wordlessly, Gaara showed the boy the notebook. 

The first drawing was an intricate desert **_(dessert)_**. There was a spattering of cacti and in the distance, there was a shaded sunset with flat clouds accenting it, hills rolled and sand blowing. The next page two unfinished portraits lay, Kirishima could tell that one of them was female and the other male from the face structure. 

“Wow Gaara, you are an amazing artist!” Kirishima marveled, drawing the attention of others nearby. Gaara did not agree with that statement, he was a far cry from his ~~friend~~ acquaintance’s talent. Gaara’s eyes grew with horror as he realized that the rest of the people that were always with the red-head, including the angry one, were headed over. 


	44. Chapter 41 ~ I'm In Love With My Car

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are all these chapters just Queen songs now? Ummmmm... maybe? Well here is part two of Saturday.

Before Gaara could even prepare, he was bombarded with questions about his drawing, and drawing in general. They would ask about why he had chosen the desert specifically, how long he had been drawing, if he took any classes, and many more annoying questions. The group did not give him any room to answer the stream of questions. Gaara had noticed, however, that he was getting glared at the whole time by the only one not asking questions.

“Hey guys, let’s not crowd the man,” Kirishima finally said, noticing Gaara’s growing agitation. This seemed to set off the blond pomeranian and also stopped the questions and left them waiting for Gaara to answer.

“I started drawing today and I just drew whatever came to mind.” Gaara answered, providing as little detail as possible.

_“Woooow, I see you just be lying to people now.”_ Shukaku said.

“Shut up.” Gaara muttered, closing the notebook. Boom Boom Boi and company were confused as they had not said anything.

_“That is a lame name. I think they should be the Yappy Crew or something… it is so much better than your idea.”_ Shukaku complained.

“Um, were you talking to us?” The sparky yellow one asked. Gaara looked up confused, he did answer their questions, right? Gaara started to nod, before he realized that he must have spoken aloud while directing his thoughts at Shukaku, so he shook his head instead.

“Then who-“ The red one started before getting interrupted by the leader. 

“Hey, Eyeliner boy!” Gaara looked up at him annoyed. 

“What.” Gaara said, having no tolerance for the boy.

“What do you mean what! You should-“ the angry boy fumed. 

“Young students!” All Might exclaimed, “Class is over and we are heading back to the locker rooms, so you can continue this conversation on the way.” Gaara had silently got up and started walking away as soon as All Might said ‘Class is over…’ so when the angry boy turned back to the place formerly occupied by Gaara he reeled back in surprise. 

Gaara smirked to himself as he heard explosions from behind him. He did not change into his gym uniform today so he just went straight back to the classroom to find a sleeping Aizawa. Gaara decided to hide in the closet with all of the blankets so he did not have to deal with all of his peers collecting their things. 

Aizawa found him about twenty minutes later snuggled up with the blankets looking up at the man innocently. Aizawa let out a sigh and Gaara left the closest to join his siblings standing by the door. 

“We have to go find Hizashi now, he said that he would meet us here but obviously he isn’t here.” Aizawa sighed out. Kankuro got a mischievous look on his face.

“Could he perhaps,” Kankuro began.

“Yes, he is probably in the staff room Kankuro.” Aizawa finished. Kankuro’s face grew even more mischievous and he started casually walking down the hall. Temari shook her head and started following him with Aizawa close behind. Gaara shot one last forlorn glance at the closet of blankets before joining the rest of them. 

Kankuro’s dreams were crushed yet again as Yamada was struggling to break free of Nemuri’s grip as Yamada was dragging her down the hallway. 

“Help!” Yamada shouted.

“I am coming over for dinner tonight and you can’t stop me!!!” Nemuri informed Aizawa, daring him to challenge her, “Since you guys are going to be fathers, I need to establish my place as the best aunt!” She said determined, finally letting go of Yamada who ran into Aizawa’s arms who looked accusingly at his husband.

“I didn’t MEAN to let it slip, it just kinda came out… I’m just so happy!” Yamada started to cry again, and Aizawa just patted his head. 

Midnight was still looking at Aizawa expectantly, and the siblings just stood silently behind them. “Alright, there is no stopping you anyway. Kankuro, when will dinner be?”

The depressed Kankuro brightened up at that and started thinking, “Well that depends on what you want me to cook,” Kankuro said.

“Well you can make anything, we will get anything from the store that we don’t have at home.” Yamada stated.

Kankuro thought about it carefully, “I will make yakisoba! We haven’t been able to have it in years.” And so they left with a promise from Yamada to call Nemuri when dinner was almost ready. 

As it was no longer morning, Aizawa’s threat was no longer in action and Yamada could again play Queen. The man sang along to ‘I’m in Love With My Car’. 

“I’m in love with my car!!!!! Gotta feel for my automobile!!!” Yamada belted out. Kankuro thought the song was weird and told the man as much. Temari agreed with Kankuro for once, the song made her feel kind of uncomfortable. Gaara just couldn’t understand how someone could fall in love with a car. 

They stopped at the store and Kankuro got everything he needed for dinner, and stuff to make strawberry shortcake as dessert at Yamada’s insistence. 

When they got home, Kankuro again kicked Yamada out of the kitchen settling to let Temari help him make the homemade noodles and cake. Kankuro started whipping up the seasoning for the dish and cooking the pork. Yamada was only summoned when they started frying the noodles and vegetables and stirring the cooked pork in. 

Nemuri got there just as dinner was ready and gave everyone a hug helping to set the table. They all sat down and began to eat.

“Kankuro this is amazing! Where did you learn to cook like this?” Nemuri asked. Kankuro scratched his neck sheepishly.

“Well, I had to do all of the cooking at home, so I learned from cookbooks and um,” Kankuro said, “Lunch Rush’s old cooking show.” Yamada let out a gasp.

“I love that show!” Yamada squealed, “I used to let it play when I was cooking when I was trying to teach Shota to cook, back when we first got married.” 

“It is so good! I freaked out my first year at UA when I found out that he cooked lunch there.” Kankuro gushed. 

“Aww,” Nemuri adored, “You two are so cute! I am so happy that you guys are finally adopting!” 

“It isn’t confirmed yet, Nemuri.” Aizawa warned “We have to go through the legal system first.” 

“Yeah, but that is just to make it official. You guys are pro heroes, and some of the best to boot, besides you all look so much like a family in the seven days you have known each other that the government would be fools not to accept.” Nemuri scoffed. 

The twins and Yamada blushed while Aizawa just rolled his eyes. “So Temari, how is being the only girl in a house full of boys?” Nemuri inquired.

“Well it can be hard but Yamada has more hair products than anyone I have ever seen and I have gotten quite the education in hair care. I never knew that there were that many steps to maintaining healthy hair.” Temari explained

“Well, if you ever need a girl’s night just call me! I’ll leave my number! We can go to the spa, go shopping, or just hang out!” Nemuri planned.

“I have your number so that will be unnecessary,” Aizawa said.

“Well can’t she have it herself so we can chat?” Aizawa looked at her funny, “Are you saying they don’t have cell phones?!” She gasped in horror, “Teenagers need a way to communicate with their friends! It is very important in their development, you know. Also, what about girlfriends, boyfriends, or datemates? You want them to be able to have a social life, right?” 

“I guess they should have something so that they can communicate with us, we hadn’t thought that far yet! It has only been a week, and a very busy and stressful one, I might add.” Aizawa defended.

“We can go shopping tomorrow!!” Yamada cheered, “You come of course, Nemuri.” He added.

“I would love to.” Nemuri said with a smile.

Gaara was very satisfied just sitting and eating his meal, but Nemuri wasn’t going to let him off without talking to him too. “How is class 1-A treating you? You poor thing, being stuck with Shota as a homeroom teacher! Last year he basically expelled his entire class!” 

“Fine.” Gaara said. 

_“Fine.”_ Shukaku mocked.

“Well if you don’t want to talk about school, how about being here? Like… your room or the cats or something?” Nemari asked, noting as Gaara seemed brighten at the mention of the cats. 

“The cats are soft?” Gaara tried.

“Cats do tend to be soft, do you have a favorite?” Nemuri proded. Gaara nodded but he did not provide a verbal response.

“Both cats seem to be obsessed with him, but he shows a preference to Swirls,” Yamada supplies, looking with envy at the boy. Nemuri quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh? Jealous, are we Hizashi?” 

“Me? No! It’s just that I have been with these cats for years and I am barely able to pet them, and on Gaara’s first night here, the cats are suddenly fighting for his attention!” Yamada complained. Everyone at the table was laughing except for Gaara and Yamada. 

They all continued to talk well into the night, before wishing Nemuri a safe drive home and promising to see her tomorrow bright and early for their shopping trip.

Once Gaara was alone, with both cats of course, he held his blanket and took measures to make sure both cats got equal attention, using his quirk to pet the cats, while using his hands to do homework. 

Gaara shot a glance to the notebook the bush had given him. He wasn’t so sure about the memories connected with drawing, but he had enjoyed it this afternoon. 

_“They are just memories you know, plus it happened a long time ago… just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”_ Shukaku sighed.

Gaara decided he would at least try, and used sand to bring the book over to him.


	45. Chapter 42 ~ Don't Stop Me Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 42... the answer to life, the universe and everything!

Nemuri came over at 7 am, much to Aizawa’s annoyance. Yamada had to carry Aizawa into the car, they had decided on using Yamada and Aizawa’s for it was larger than Nemuri’s fancy car, and had placed him in the passenger seat, seeing as he was not awake enough to drive. Nemuri called driving and so Yamada was forced into the back. Kankuro and Temari were excited for the trip, so they did not really mind the early hour and Gaara didn’t sleep at all so he did not care. 

One thing Gaara did care about, however, was the fact they were going on a shopping trip. Last time he had gone shopping, he had been subjected to trying on a whole bunch of random clothes. In fact, Gaara currently had on the fox shirt Shukaku hated so much that he had gotten ownership over last time. He just hoped he wasn't subjected to the same treatment again. 

Last time they had gone to a large building with countless other stores inside it, but this time Nemuri pulled up at a small store that did not look like any of the stores Gaara had seen before. The group entered the store and Nemuri led them to the front desk. 

Gaara saw that Kankuro and Temari seemed to know what was going on and protested about the couple spending money on them or something like that. 

As they continued to argue, Gaara wandered away from the desk to look around. He looked at the many devices with flitting curiosity, until he came to see a TV in the corner displaying cats and dogs.

“Cats and dogs are suffering, alone and depressed. Call now to donate so we can continue rescuing abused and neglected pets.” The voiceover said while the screen showed sad pictures of dogs and cats and played depressing violin music to accompany the voice. Gaara stood mesmerized. He did not like to see the soft cats suffer. It left him feeling empty and angry. Cats are supposed to be able to use people to get what they want, they don’t deserve to be hurt by the stupid humans. 

Gaara didn’t care about the dogs however. They just followed commands and seem happy all the time, willing to stick with the same person or people no matter what. 

He stood there watching the commercial on loop for a while before someone must have noticed he was gone because suddenly Aizawa was next to him looking up at the TV with him. “Don’t go wandering off like that, Gaara,” Aizawa said turning to him, “now let’s get back to the others, they are worried.” Gaara took one last sad look at the TV and followed Aizawa back to the front desk. 

The minute Kankuro and Temari saw him, they ran up and started scolding him. Gaara was then pulled to the front desk and Yamada handed him a device that was like those in the cases. Kankuro and Temari were also holding one while being instructed on how to set it up. 

“Don’t worry Gaara, I did yours while you wondered off. I put me, Aizawa, Nemuri, and your siblings’ number in your phone already so why don’t you pick out a case?” Yamada suggested gesturing to a pile of cases that the worker had pulled out. Kankuro and Temari had already picked out their cases when Gaara glanced over, seeing Kankuro with a black and purple one and Temari with a sparkly black. 

Gaara turned to the pile and decided on a crimson color. They finalized the paperwork and got back into the car, all three teens messing on their new phones the whole time. Aizawa decided that he would be driving and told Yamada he will be in the passenger seat which ment Nemuri would be in the back, which was not something she was upset about at all because she could plan the day with Temari. 

Yamada was also on his own phone and created a group chat with everyone that was in the car, causing all of the phones to go off. 

_Yamada created a group chat_

_Kankuro changed Yamada’s name to Yamadad_

_Kankuro changed their name to cat_bro_

_Kankuro changed Aizawa’s name to Dadzawa_

_Kankuro changed Temari’s name to scary_sis_

_Kankuro changed Gaara’s name to sleepy_bro_

_Kankuro changed the chat name to Spikasaurus_Rex_

“Whoa! Kankuro, how do you change the names?” Nemuri asked and Kankuro leaned forward and showed her how to use the chat options.

_Nemuri set their name to best_auntie_

“How do you even know how to do that if you have never had a phone before?” Aizawa asked gruffly.

“I learned with my friends’ phone and their group chats, our friends are fun to mess with.” Kankuro answered gleefully. Temari laughed and remembered a time when they had changed Tamaki’s name to gay_4_mirio. Even though Tamaki’s reaction of extreme embarrassment and retreat confirmed the boy’s crush, this prank did not result in the two getting together because Mirio is dense, much to the disappointment of Nemari and Temari. 

Yamada looked at his phone to see what name he had been set and nearly let out a squeal when he saw ‘Yamadad’. He kept the happiness inside to later shed happy tears when he was alone with Aizawa. 

Aizawa eventually pulled into the mall’s parking lot and they entered through the food court. It was still morning but most of the group were hungry so they decided to eat before they started shopping. They all went to various places to go and get food and then sat down at a table, while Aizawa went to get some strong coffee. 

After they finished eating, Nemuri rushed off with Temari to do some ‘girl’ things. Kankuro complained to the couple that she was picking favorites and that he wanted to go with his sister too, but as he got to shop-or rather drag-Gaara around he didn’t make that big of a fuss about it. 

“Is there anywhere or anything you guys want to look at in particular?” Yamada asked, glancing at the two boys. 

“I don’t want to have to spend more money on me.” Kankuro said looking at the ground.

“I told you earlier! We want to!!” Yamada said exasperated.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it kid. We have more money than we ever will need with both of us working two jobs and besides, Yamada thrives off of buying things for people.” Aizawa said, ruffling Kankuro’s hair. 

“Well if you are sure… the sports festival is coming up and I usually like make repairs to my puppets and make new ones but I kinda lost all of my supplies and um I-“ Kankuro rushed out only to be cut off by Yamada.

“Let’s go to ‘The Crafty Corner’ it is my favorite store in the mall, besides ‘The Bee’s Knees’. They have all sorts of things and I am sure that you will find something there! If not, we can always go to other places of course.” Yamada said enthusiastically. 

“Ok that sounds good?” Kankuro replied, and with that Yamada started to drag them all in the direction of the store, Aizawa on his second cup of coffee. 

When they reached the store, Yamada told Kankuro to look around and see if there is anything he wanted, and not to be stingy about things either. Yamada grabbed a basket and went off, dragging Aizawa with him, to where the yarn was in the store. Gaara followed Kankuro through the store as he walked down aisles and picked up a lot of things that all seemed to Gaara to be random. 

As he followed Kankuro through the aisles Gaara came to a stop when he saw drawing supplies. This brought back his thoughts from earlier and he didn’t notice Kankuro stopping and turning back to face him.

Kankuro was about to ask Gaara why he had stopped when he saw what Gaara was looking at and thought better of it. He slowly walked away, leaving his brother to his thoughts. 

Yamada was happy. He got all of the yarn that he needed for his next project along with extra yarn that he had happened upon that he liked. They were taking a loop around the store up to the counters where they had told Kankuro they would meet when they saw Gaara staring at rows of sketchbooks and charcoal pencils with no sign of Kankuro.

“Er… Gaara?” Yamada asked, looking at the boy who did not respond. Yamada looked at Aizawa, who moved to put his hand on Gaara’s shoulder which snapped him out of his trance. 

Gaara blinked up at Yamada and Aizawa. “Hey, whatcha doing staring at the drawing stuff? Do you want a sketchbook?” Yamada asked and received a blank stare from Gaara.

“His classmates were talking about him drawing after heroics class…” Aizawa mused. Gaara now looked at Aizawa in surprised annoyance. 

“That settles it then. We will get you a sketch book and a set of drawing pencils and you can choose whether or not to use them.” Yamada decided. Gaara looked appreciatively at him, “By the way, where is Kankuro?” Gaara looked around confused before shrugging. 

The group grabbed the drawing supplies and headed to the rendezvous point where Kankuro was waiting wondering if he should go and find Gaara when they all arrived. “Why did we find Gaara all alone standing in an aisle?” Yamada asked, hands on his hips.

“Gaara was lost in thought, so I just wanted to give him some time to think.” Kankuro replied, pulling an unwilling Gaara into a hug. 

They paid for their items and started just walking through the mall, stopping in various stores. They came to a pretzel place and Yamada got himself and the siblings each a pretzel. Gaara got a regular one and Kankuro got one with cinnamon and sugar, which Yamada also got. Aizawa got yet another coffee to the awe of Kankuro, for he did not know how someone drank that much caffeine and still lived to tell the tale. 

Aizawa was done with the shopping at this point, and having done everything that they needed to do Yamada agreed to find Nemuri and Temari and head home. 

_**Spikasaurus_Rex**_

_Yamadad: Where are you guys? Sho needs his nap._

_best_auntie: We r getting smoothies_

_Yamadad: At YumYum Rainforest Blast?_

_best_auntie: yup_

_Yamadad: we will meet you there then!_

_best_auntie: kk_

"We are headed to YumYum to meet up with the Ris!" Yamada declared, grabbing his bags. 

"Ris?" Kankuro asked, confused. Aizawa knew better than to question anything that came out of his husband's mouth anymore. 

"Ya know, like Tema-RI and Nemu-RI… it just fits I guess?" Yamada explained, already headed away from the tables where they had stopped to eat their pretzels. Kankuro's face turned thoughtful.

"Huh." He pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows, "Makes sense." And proceeded to grab his bags as well as Gaara's and followed everyone else as they walked to their destination. 

Upon reaching the smoothie store, Kankuro moved to go in when Nemuri spoke up from a bench that was left of the door. “Hey guys!” She said slurping at her smoothie, Temari next to her doing the same thing. Kankuro tried going past them to open the door but Temari put her hand out to block him.

“Oh no you don’t, didn't you hear? We need to head on home now.” She joked.

“Fine.” Kankuro grumbled, “I’ll make my own at home.” 

“Nah, we have time, she was just joking!” Nemuri laughed out.

“Nope.” Kankuro said stubbornly, “I want to make my own.” Aizawa sighed, in relief or exasperation no one would ever know, and they walked back to the food court and out of the mall’s doors. 

Once they had gotten in the car, Nemuri insisted on driving since she was the only one that hadn’t yet and Yamada took the backseat. The moment Aizawa sat in the car he passed out and they were on their way. Yamada leaned up to mess with the stereo, only to have his hand smacked away by Nemuri.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Nemuri shook her head, “you always pick the music so it is someone else’s turn this time.” Yamada looked disappointed and then it turned mischievous, turning to his phone. Nemuri noticed his determination, “What are you-“

“Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time, I feel alive... and the world I'll turn it inside out, yeah…And floating around in ecstasy.” The music blasted out from the small speakers on Yamda’s phone, “So don't stop me now don't stop me 'Cause I'm having a good time, having a good time!” Yamada sang along pointedly glancing at Nemuri. 

“Uhhggg!!!!” Nemari groaned, gripping the wheel of the car tighter as the rest of the car started to get into the music. Kankuro bopped his head along with the music, Temari started to dance and even Gaara seemed to enjoy it. 

_“You know, I am not one for what humans call music but this is pretty great.”_ Shukaku commented.

After ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ was over, Yamada begrudgingly gave music control to Nemuri, deciding she had suffered enough. 

Once they had arrived home, Nemuri waved goodbye and gave everyone a hug, including Gaara who tried to escape with no success, and left in her car saying she would see them soon. 

Ever since Shota woke up he hasn’t stopped staring at Hizashi with a scary grin that Hizashi was all too familiar with. He let himself be pulled away out of the kid’s hearing. “So, what do you want, Sho?” Hizashi sighed.

“I think that Gaara should have a kitten to take care of.” Shota declared.


	46. Chapter 43 ~ The Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Pride Month Y'all!! 
> 
> Also stay safe y'all!!
> 
> And yes we do get excited over anyone who reads/votes/comments. We never thought we would make it this far. Shinji let our password leak to our overly supportive friend, and I (Iwa) left it up because she would just do it again XD (love ya)

It was midnight. Two cats prepared for war. The two cats often found themselves on opposing sides, always fighting for the red bean’s affection. However, a new contender had made its way onto the battlefield. Now the cats were going by the well known motto: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. With that in mind, they formed an alliance. An alliance that would only hold up until the newbie was eliminated.

The two cats casually sneak into the room, ready to pounce when they see Gaara curled up on the floor with a blanket petting a very small ball of fluff. The two cats decide that war is overrated and peace is more rewarding. Swirls suddenly felt very protective of the tiny kitten and jumped into the basket while Mustachio curled up on Gaara’s legs.

At first Gaara is alarmed that Swirls had randomly jumped it, but he knew that the cat would never hurt anyone other than the tuxedo cat. The second Swirls started to lick the kitten, he patted Swirls on the head and used his quirk to get a book to read for the rest of the morning, seeing as he was obviously not going anywhere.

_**~~~**_

  
When everyone else had woken up and got ready for school, they had to get the kitten set up for the day. They were not sure what to do about Swirls sleeping with Floof when they were not there.

“I trust Swirls but Floof is a five week old kitten.” Yamada said nervously glancing at the sleeping cat, curled around Floof. 

“We may want to take her out of the basket while we are at school. Swirls would never intentionally hurt anything… other than Mustachio perhaps, but she is not Floof's mother and I am not sure what effect her presence will have on Floof.” Aizawa mused glancing at the cats.

“Yeah, that might be for the best.” Yamada said, reaching down to remove Swirls from the basket. 

This was a bad idea. Swirls curled protectively around the kitten and glared daggers at Yamada who instantly backed up. Gaara sighed and moved to scratch Swirls on the head.

“Swirls and Floof will be fine, Swirls was very gentle with Floof last night, they will be fine.” Gaara stated, ending the conversation. 

_“Way to put your foot down and assert some dominance!”_ Shukaku laughed. Gaara rolled his eyes and started to leave his room when he caught sight of the shopping bag with the sketch book and paused before putting the sketch book into his backpack along with the charcoal pencils. 

( _ **Weird Stuff That Happened Because Of Not Writing Enough... but still in the plot so...)**_

  
“I don’t know, why DID I have to get hurt?” Gaara shot back, getting strange looks from Yamada as they got into the car.

_“I don’t know, why DID I have to get hurt?”_ Shukaku repeated, childishly.

“That is not very mature.” Gaara said flatly. 

_“That is not very mature.”_ Shukaku mocked. Gaara sent him an annoyed look and decided to stop responding to him. _“*annoyed look*”_ Shukaku responded in retaliation.

“How in the world did you say annoyed look out loud. The sigh was pushing it but this?” Gaara snapped. Shukaku just looked smug as everyone in the car, including Aizawa, turned to look at him in confusion. Gaara responded by sinking further into the seat until they got to school, ignoring Shukaku’s laughter.

_**~~~** _

  
Gaara snuck out as the lunch bell rang again, not even giving the Bush Gang a chance to follow him to Recovery Girl’s office. He supposed they were all distracted by talking about English, and also arguing about the book that had left Gaara with many questions himself. As he left the classroom, he let out a snicker at how much worse it was going to get for them and silently walked away, weaving his way through the crowded halls.

Unbeknownst to Gaara, he left Todoroki standing shell shocked by the door. _**(AN: A gay panic)**_ He had heard the almost silent snicker from the red bean as he left and he would have thought that he had imagined it if not for the small flicker of a smile on the boy’s face that acompianed it. Todoroki blinked as he looked at his hand that was smoking for some unknown reason and coldly waved away concerned classmates (read: Midoriya) and decided that he must be hungry for him to lose control of his quirk like that. It certainly would explain the weird churning feeling in his stomach and the lightheadedness he was also afflicted with. 

He wandered towards the lunchroom wondering if he should pack a snack to eat before lunch the next day as he obviously wasn’t getting enough to eat. 

“You are all set to begin training again today.” Recovery Girl told Gaara frowning. She was quite concerned with how much progress his injury had made on Sunday, so she decided to bring up the topic with a friend for further analysis. 

_"Finally! I thought this day would never come!"_ Shukaku cheered and Gaara gave a small smile in response which surprised Shukaku. 

Gaara gave a nod to Recovery Girl only to be whacked on the head with her cane when he turned to leave. "You still need to take these vitamins!" Gaara took the vitamins and hurried out of the office, deciding to go to the same deserted hallway as yesterday since he now knew how to get back. 

**_Spikasaurus_Rex_ **

_scary_sis: GAARA I DON'T SEE YOU IN THIS LUNCHROOM, WHERE ARE YOU?_

_cat_bro: he escaped you and his friends again? Shocker._

_scary_sis: 😡_

_cat_bro: *Rawr*_

_scary_sis: your going to die when I get to that lunch table_

_cat_bro: First of all… *you’re, second bold of you to assume I am at the table 😏_

_**High Five** _

_Crazyfanlady: is Kankuro with u guys?_

_It’same,Mirio!: Nope! He disappeared toward the classroom a few minutes ago._

_It’same,Mirio!: I’m guessing something happened?_

_PlantMom: Wowwwwww, I thought you were my friend, Mirio._

_PlantMom: ‘Mari is just mad cause Gaara got out of her sight again._

_It’same,Mirio!: Ahhhhhhh… sorry Kuro_

_ShySquid: Why don’t you just leave him alone, it will be better if he just came to you on his own._

_PlantMom: wow Tamaki! That is some great advice, so Mari take it and spare my life!!_

_Crazyfanlady: You are right as always Tamaki_

_PlantMom: Cool, then we are all good??_

_PlantMom changed ShySquid’s name to WiseChicken_

_Crazyfanlady: this doesn’t do anything for your situation Kankuro._

_Crazyfanlady changed PlantMom’s name to Planticide_

_Planticide: HEY_

_Crazyfanlady: *rawr*_

_It’same,Mirio!: this chat has just gone off the rails psychotic since you two got here…_

_Planticide changed Crazyfanlady’s name to HoverParent._

_HoverParent: I deserved that one…_

Ten minutes later…

_AShipper: Uhhhhh… what just happened… I can’t leave you guys alone for a minute before anything weird happens._

In hindsight Gaara should have seen this coming. He had been eating in silence when he saw the text from Temari (but since she did not come to find him, she must be fighting with Kankuro) when Gaara spotted Shinso walking down the hall right towards him. 

“You are back here again?” The tired purple boy asked while sitting down beside him. Gaara was really starting to think that he was a magnet that attracts people instead of iron. Gaara gave a defeated nod. At least this boy was not as loud as the others he attracted. “What do you have for lunch today?” 

Gaara shrugged and tipped his lunch in Shinso’s direction so that he could see the contents of the container. “Hm, looks good.” Gaara nodded, unsure if that required him to give a response or not. 

The rest of lunch passed without either of them saying anything else, and Gaara was contemplating why this boy kept insisting to be around him. He didn’t seem to be like Midoriya, who was just weirdly friendly for seemingly no reason to everyone, he wasn’t like the blond Pomeranian, nor was he like the stoic Todoroki. So what did the purple boy want? It wasn’t like Gaara had much to offer him. 

“Um, I think it is time to go back to class now?” Shinso said, trying to break Gaara out of his trance. Shinso was successful and Gaara followed him down the halls in silence. Gaara had failed to notice that the hallway that he had chosen basically intercepted the path that every student had to take to get to their classrooms in one way or another so Shinso was headed in the same direction as him. 

To further add to Gaara’s theory of his magnetism, he had to bump into Temari and her friends, although Kankuro was strangely absent. “Gaara.” Temari said calmly, schooling her expression into indifference so she wouldn’t spook him. It took a lot of effort. 

Temari understood that she was being overbearing, and she really didn’t want to be the reason Gaara closed off to them when he was just starting to let a little light in. So, if she had to go through pain to repress her sisterly tendencies then that is what she would do… at least a little. 

Gaara felt very confused at Temari’s behavior and parted ways with Shinso with a slight nod of his head. With Gaara gone, Temari turned to Shinso. “I am beginning to think that you are also hiding, since this is the second time this happened.” Shinso blushed slightly.

“Not really hiding per say… just avoiding people, not that it is working. I didn’t come to UA to make friends… and there are too many people here who have.” Shinso said, scratching the back of his neck. Temari looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Well you seem to have made one with my brother, he doesn’t tolerate a lot of people and that speaks volumes.” Temari said, gesturing the way Gaara had gone. 

“It’s not like we have really talked or anything.” Shinso explained. Temari got an evil grin and pulled out her phone.

“Do you have a phone?” She asked.

“Yes… why?” Shinso asked, concerned.

“I’ll give you Gaara’s number!!” Temari said enthusiastically, “If you didn’t want to get close to him, you wouldn’t have sat down next to him.”

“How did you know that?” Shinso panicked, and Temari chucked.

“I have my ways… Gaara likes cats and anything soft and that is all the help you are getting on starting a conversation.” Temari stole Shinso’s phone and put Gaara’s phone number on it, “Also consider putting a passcode or something on that thing, wouldn’t want anyone unsavory to use it.” She said with a wink, and walked down the hall in what Shinso guessed was the direction of her class. 

The last bell rang and Shinso sprinted down the hall, ignoring the shouts of people he passed and or bumped into. If he wanted to get into the hero course he couldn’t have anything tarnishing his record, not even a late mark. 

Gaara finally was able to participate in Hero Basic Training again. This would technically be his second official class since the second one was interrupted by the villain attack. 

“Alright everyone!!!! You will be doing the same individual type training like yesterday, again, don’t be afraid to get into groups or pairs and work together!” All Might enthused, “Stay in training ground Zeta and get to work!” 

Gaara looked around at the area. It was a fake coastal city, there were homes dotted across the sea side and waves rolled out in the distance. There was also gym equipment in one of the homes for anyone that didn’t train with the landscape. Gaara was happy that there was sand, even though he had his gourd today. He decided not to try and train physically since he had no idea how to do that and just work with his quirk instead. 

He had just set foot into the sand and taken his shoes off when he came face to face with the angry Pomeranian. 

“Hey, Eyeliner boy! What was with the other day, huh?” The boy said, small explosions coming off his hands, “No one tells me to shut up you brat! Who do you-“ Bakugo stopped his rant when a hand suddenly was in his hair moving back and forth.

“Soft…” Gaara mumbled, petting the boy’s hair. 

Gaara had been listening to what the exploding boy was saying, but the wind was tosling his hair and it just looked so soft. So he gave in to his urge and reached out his hand. 

“HEY YOU EYELINER BASTARD!!! GET YOUR HAND OUT OF MY HAIR!!!!!” Bakugo screamed, using his explosions to launch himself backwards, leaving Gaara with his hand out and an abandoned look on his face. 

Gaara looked around to see everyone around him with a shocked face that immediately turned to laughter. Even Todoroki looked like he was fighting to keep his stoney expression in place. Midoriya was looking at him in awe while the rest of the Yappy Crew was headed towards him, doubled over in laughter. 

“Dude, that was the best thing ever!!!” The Zappy one gasped out, clutching his stomach and reaching out to put his hand on Gaara’s shoulder causing Gaara to flinch back and push the hand back with some sand. 

“HEY YOU EXTRAS! STOP THAT! AND YOU!” Bakugo yelled, turning towards Gaara, “YOU WANNA DIE LOSER!” Gaara stared at the boy with a flat expression before making a sand wall to block the boy. Gaara figures that this was basically training his quirk and it also got rid of an annoying, albeit fluffy, problem. 

Muffled shouts and laughter came through the sand wall but Gaara turned his attention to the fake sea. It was very calming to watch the generated waves quietly lap on the shore. A loud explosion followed by shouting and a shower of sand and sharp fragments interrupted Gaara’s calm contemplation. 

Gaara was annoyed by the sudden interruption of his serene experience and took the sand underneath his feet to float up and out of reach of the fist that suddenly connected with the now empty space. 

“HEY-“ The Yappy Pomeranian screamed as Gaara floated out of hearing range down the beach. Gaara was about to stop to admire the view again when he heard increasingly loud explosions as they drew closer to him, causing Gaara to go up higher to avoid the boy. Gaara was not expecting Bakugo to follow him, but a quick look down showed Bakugo headed up only to fall into the water as Gaara went even higher. 

“Get down here and DIE!!” Bakugo yelled as he hurtled toward the water with a large splash. This loud commotion had drawn All Might’s attention.

“Urm… young Bakugo?” All Might questioned as an angry wet dog stomped out of the fake ocean, “I think the water would be counterproductive to your quirk my boy, unless this is the point and you are preparing for a situation in your hero career?” The Yappy squad had to hold a very soggy Bakugo back from assaulting All Might.

“Um yeah! That is definitely what we were up to! No need to worry!” Lightning boy covered, reviving an elbow in the face from a struggling Bakugo. 

“Alright then!” All Might cheered. All Might looked up when sand fell on his hair, “Er, Gaara what are you doing up there?” All Might shouted. Gaara decided to ignore him and continue to float down the beach to an area no one was around.

_“Wow, is your social tank on empty or something?”_ Shukaku jabbed, and Gaara ignored him, to Shukaku’s satisfaction, and worked with his sand in a secluded part of the area until a voice over a loudspeaker signified the end of training. 

This was the first day that Aizawa, Yamada, the twins, and Gaara had not all gone home together since they moved in. Yamada had taken the twins home for some family bonding time while Aizawa and Gaara stayed at the school to train. 

“We will be starting with the basics today, you only have the bare minimum of muscle to survive which doesn’t benefit your situation at all, seeing as we have ten days left until the Sports Festival. We need more muscle on you until we can start with the physical sparing but we can work on agility.” Aizawa said, sizing up Gaara’s frame. 

This began a long night of Gaara running around with Aizawa barking out instructions and Shukaku being an annoying hover parent. When they had gotten home that night, frankly it was close to morning and Yamada wasn’t too happy about that, Gaara collapsed in bed, after grabbing Floof, and had to actively fight to stay awake. Gaara had a bad feeling that this would become a common occurance the next ten days. 

When they headed to school in the morning, Yamada got out his Queen as a punishment for the pair of insomniacs being out so late. (Cue “The Hero” by Queen as dramatic montage starts) 

_**~~~** _

  
Thus began the Killer Montage That Is Totally Original. As “The Hero” by Queen played in the background, Gaara pushed his sand carrying capacity. Flash. Gaara was learning hand to hand combat with Aizawa. Flash! Gaara doing pushups! Swoosh. Gaara was then dodging tomatoes without his sand, not moving fast enough to avoid a fruit thrown at his face by Kankuro. Fwoosh! Gaara was playing in traffic! Okay, that one was a joke. Flash! Gaara was cuddling with the cats! Awww! Gaara eating food made by Yamada and Kankuro! Yum! Gaara running from people! Ahhh! Gaara avoiding Bakugo! Boom! Bakugo exploding things! Explosion Noises! Shukaku singing nonstop! Stop singing “I’m a Gummy Bear”!! Cats with the zoomies at 3 AM! Swish! Gaara doing sit ups! Shukaku is still singing! Aizawa, make him stop! AHH! Bakugo just blew up a wall! Someone was spamming Gaara with Cat Facts!! Gaara battles to keep his eyes open! Gaara is sick!! Wait what?!

_**~INTERMISSION~** _


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is extremely short.

Temari was getting worried when Gaara had not come down for breakfast yet this morning. Usually, Gaara was the first downstairs at the summons of the cats who wanted to be fed. 

She knew that all of the training Gaara had been doing was taking a toll on him and he desperately needed sleep. Temari would kill Kankuro’s succulent to get Gaara just an hour of peaceful sleep without having to worry about the Thing… maybe she should try… equivalent exchange after all… **_(Death toll of Spikasaurus Rex 2)_** as she headed back downstairs after the dirty deed had been done, she saw Gaara’s door still closed and decided to knock.

“Gaara? Are you coming down for breakfast?” She hesitantly called out. Getting no response she feared that Shukaku had taken over and jumped out a window or something, she opened the door to find Gaara blinking blearily at her with a face as red as his hair. 

Temari quickly turned around and closed the door shouting downstairs, “Yamada? Aizawa? I need you!!” Before opening the door again and entering the room. “Gaara,” Temari reached down and put the back of her hand on Gaara’s forehead. Gaara obviously had a fever and Temari wasn’t surprised. On top of the demon thing sucking his energy away he had just been injured and had been training harder than he ever had in his life. 

Gaara blinked slowly at the blob standing over him. Somewhere in his brain the blob registered as Temari but Gaara was too done to care. 

Temari frowned at Gaara as Yamada and Aizawa rushed up the stairs and into Gaara’s room. “What’s wrong!” Yamada rushed out.

“Gaara has a fever. I need more blankets and a cool cloth.” Temari ordered. Yamada instantly moved to comply, heading back out the door.

“Does this happen a lot?” Aizawa asked, glancing at the boy that was totally unaware of anything going on at the moment, not that he would care if he did. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t bizarre if he gets sick once a week,” Temari said, “although he has been looking healthier lately.” She added, thoughtfully. Aizawa’s face contorted into a frown.

“This is because of his quirk?” Aizawa asked for confirmation. 

“Yeah that since that demon prevents him from sleeping Gaara has a weak immune system. I hate that thing. If I could rid him of it I would.” Temari growled, running her fingers through Gaara’s hair affectionately. **_(Sorry Shukaku… but you haven’t exactly painted yourself in the best light)_**

“Ok! I have the blankets and the cool rag!” Yamada proclaimed from the doorway. They placed the warm fluffy blankets on top of Gaara and the cool cloth on his forehead. “What about these fever reducers-“ 

“No!” Temari exclaimed, “We gave him those once but it made him worse. His body reacts badly to them, it is probably the demon.” 

“Oh,” Yamada said softly.

“I’m going to have to stay here until his fever breaks and he feels better. That demon tries to take control of him when he is this weak. What Gaara really needs is sleep, not that he can get it.” Temari scoffed, “Would either of you mind grabbing my phone? I need to tell Nemuri and the others that we can’t make it today.”

“I can do it” Kankuro said from behind the couple. Kankuro was carrying what looked to be a fox plushie and also more blankets.

“Oh my gosh that is adorable!” Yamada squealed, pointing to the plushie.

“Is that for Gaara?” Aizawa asked. Kankuro nodded.

“He had one like it when he was younger but…” Kankuro said trailing off in thought, “Anyways, when I saw a fox plushie when we were at the mall with our friends I just had to get it for him. It took me a while to dig it out, I had it hidden so the cats could never drag it out and ruin it like they killed my cactus.” Kankuro narrowed his eyes at the kitten that was sleeping in her box nearby.

“Awww, that is adorable!” Yamada cooed, “And you guys don’t have to cancel your plans with your friends, Sho and I will take care of Gaara!” Aizawa let out a tired sigh.

“You guys don’t have to, he is our brother.” Kankuro said defensively.

“We don’t have to, but we would love to. We are now here to take care of you. Besides, who has the quirk that can cancel the thing that can kill us all?” Yamada raised an eyebrow. 

“I guess that is true but…” Temari looked hesitantly at Gaara. 

“No! Go have fun. Gaara wouldn’t want you to sit around here, would he?” Yamada asked.

“Well no, but…” Kankuro tried.

“Listen problem children, just go. We will be here and we can text you if anything comes up alright.” Aizawa sighed.

“Ok…” Temari said, not totally convinced.

“When are you guys heading out?” Yamada asked.

“Well, we said that we would meet them at the bus stop at 11, but if you need us…” Kankuro said, fidgeting with the fox plushie.

“Nonsense, go get ready! We have things handled here.” Yamada cheered. Temari got up and Kankuro walked forward to place the fox near Gaara’s head fondly. The twins slowly walked out and went to their respective rooms to get ready. Yamada’s stomach growled. “Well, I better go and get some food for the both of us…”

Aizawa rolled his eyes and took a seat on the floor, grabbing one of the blankets that Kankuro left to cover himself with.

_‘It’s going to be a long day.’_ He thought, glancing over at his problem child with a faint smile.


	48. Chapter 45 ~ Seriously!  Take a Break! -With Kind Regards, Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fever is fed up with Gaara’s low energy and self destructive habits. They will make him suffer for the pain his poor body has been through… by putting his body through more pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally caught up to our updates... that took a while... sorry. 
> 
> Hey look! A chapter! Wow! Sorry for the long wait, there are a lot of things going on AGAIN. But the sports festival is coming! Who is ready for that!!  
> Not us... but time for the actual plot to get underway... *laughs maniacally*

Yamada came back with the eggs and fruit that he had made that morning, as well as a fresh cloth to replace the one currently on Gaara’s head. 

“Here babe. Eat.” Yamada said, handing one of the plates to his husband. Aizawa grunted in thanks, taking the plate. Yamada sat down beside Aizawa, replacing the old cloth with the new. “So um… what are we going to do for him? Everything I know about treating fevers has to do with taking reducers and getting lots of sleep… not much we can do…” Yamada trailed off. 

“True,” Aizawa said, picking up a blueberry that he had been fruitlessly chasing around with his fork, “We just have to watch him, do everything we can do while making sure that the demon doesn’t take control of him.” There was a rusting sound behind them, and they looked backwards. Gaara was sitting up.

“Where did the fluffy green thing go?” Gaara mumbled out, blinking sleep from his eyes, mouth open in a yawn. 

“ _Oh! We are awake again!_ ” Shukaku said blearily, holding back his own yawn, “ _Hey! The sister isn’t here to bug us_!” 

“Um, Gaara? How are you feeling?” Yamada asked.

“Squishies?” Gaara asked hopefully.

“ _Annnnd he’s lost it again._ ” Shukaku sighed, _“I would be much more agreeable if he didn’t go and get us sick and then go off to la la land every single time.”_ Shukaku sneezed, causing the sand to swirl around him and Gaara to giggle.

“Urm, is he okay?” Yamada whispered to Aizawa.

“He has a fever, give the kid a break.” Aizawa grunted grabbing the fox that was by Gaara’s head and held it out, “Here Gaara, a squishy.” Yamada was trying to hold back his snickers at hearing the straight faced Aizawa give a strangely bright eyed Gaara a fox plush. 

“ _Hey! That is a fox!! Why a fox again! I feel so rejected! So bruised! So hurt! So-“_ Shukaku was cut off by another sneeze, sending Gaara into another fit of giggles. 

“Shu-Shu doesn’t like foxes! I like fox! Fox left though… but they’re back! Fox!” Gaara said happily, clutching the plushie before promptly falling back on the bed, unmoving.

“Shu-Shu?” Yamada questioned, staring at the boy in confusion. Aizawa frowned and examined Gaara closer.

“He looks like he is unconscious, but his quirk is not taking him over…” Aizawa mused, “now that I think about it, if Gaara gets like this often, why wouldn’t he have been taken over before when there was nothing to stop it…” 

“I don’t know, maybe they are out on vacation or something, who knows demons could get sick too.” Yamada grumbled, still confused over who Shu-Shu could be. The being in question was currently holding an annoyed expression while sneezing in his sleep. Aizawa looked at him with a thoughtful expression and Yamada rolled his eyes, “I am going to go and get a fresh cloth, want anything?” Aizawa waved him off, still lost in thought. 

Yamada walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to be greeted by three sets of bright gleaming eyes.

_‘Oops… we didn’t feed the cats this morning did we…’_ Yamada mourned. Ink rolled up against Yamada’s foot, looking up at him pleadingly. “Ok, ok. I will feed you now, calm down you rabid beasts.” After feeding the cats, Yamada wet a new cloth and grabbed more wet food to give to the kitten. 

The cats watched with narrowed stares as Yamada ascended the stairs. Swirls and Mustachio looked at each other and reached the same conclusion. They wanted to be around their humans, they cannot escape us that easily. Swirls grabbed Ink by his scruff and the pair marched up the stairs to get attention. Once they reached the top and came to the room where they could smell the humans they were greeted with an unfamiliar sight. The red cat friend was unresponsive. 

“Meow!” Swirls said glancing with worry in her tone at the red cat friend.

“Mrerrow.” Mustachio agreed, “MeOw?” He suggested.

“Mur.” Swirls agreed with determination in her tone.

“Meow?” Ink asked from the clutches of Swirls.

“Murow.” Swirls assured him before jumping up onto the bed and executing their plan. **_(Yes cats talk mostly with body language but let us have our fun ok? Imagine… Swirls licked her paw in agreement. Mustachio twitched his whiskers in inquiry. )_**

Yamada and Aizawa were too busy with talking to notice the conversation behind them and were quite startled when the Swirls, Mustachio, and Ink all suddenly joined Gaara on the bed. The cats then started pawing (except Ink for obvious reasons) and nudging Gaara to try and get him to be normal again. 

Yamada let out a shout and grabbed the closest cat to him, which happened to be Ink, and set them on the floor. He then went for the next cat, Swirls, grabbing her and setting her on the ground. However, when he went for the final cat Swirls jumped back on the bed. This cycle went on for several minutes all the while Ink was trying to find a way back up and Aizawa was looking on with amusement.

“SHOTA,” Yamada shouted, frustrated, “a little help would be nice!”

“Nah, I am good just watching.” Aizawa struggled out, holding back a snort. 

“Wow.” Yamada rolled his eyes, currently trying to detach Swirls from the blankets, “Such a helpful, supportive husband.” 

Aizawa got up and left the room, leaving his husband indignantly calling after him. A few moments later, Aizawa came back and the cats all rushed over to him. He threw something out of the room and the pair of cats ran out of the room while Ink gracefully rolled to the objects. 

Aizawa closed the door behind them and turned to Yamada, “Treats. The best weapon to combat cats.” Yamada let out a laugh.

“And here I thought you were abandoning me.” Yamada said dramatically. 

“Never.” Aizawa said affectionately. 

“Squish?” Gaara asked, reaching out.

“Here we go again.” Aizawa sighed.

It was many hours later before the twins returned home. Hearing the door open, Yamada came down from upstairs. 

“Oh hello! Come in!” Yamada said cheerfully, noticing the trio of friends behind the twins, “You guys are welcome to stay as long as you like!” 

“We wouldn’t want to intrude!” Mirio said, protesting.

“Nonsense. Any friend of our kids is always welcome here!” Yamada dismissed. The five kids looked at each other.

“Alright, my parents won’t be home tonight anyway and Tamaki and I would have been alone, so thank you.” Mirio said.

“I just have to tell mine.” Nejire said, looking at Temari with a sly smile. After checking on Gaara, the twins and the friends sit in the living room and hang out. 

Gaara’s fever had broken by dinner and Yamada made a simple soup for him to eat. Gaara didn’t remember anything that had happened that day, so Kankuro had to explain the fox’s presence. Gaara got quiet after that and did not talk for the remainder of the night. 

Yamada somehow persuaded the three friends to stay over, since it had grown late, and the twins were ecstatic. They had never had what one would call a sleepover. 

The cats all retreated into Gaara’s room while the friends all hung out. Gaara wondered to himself if Yamada had forgotten that tomorrow was a school day and none of the three friends had any of the things they would need. Aizawa was also thinking about this and regretfully set his alarm clock to an earlier time. He didn’t want to bother any of the kids or Yamada tonight. 

The next day they had to stop at Mirio’s house and Nemuri’s house to get their school things. Gaara was cleared for going to school, but he was banned from training with Aizawa for today. However, once he woke up the next day, Gaara was back to his training schedule. He had spent lunch with Shinso and they had a conversation for once. They were talking about the sports festival and how they were training. They came upon the subject of how Shinso was also feeling doubt in his physical abilities. Gaara later mentioned this to Aizawa when it was noticed how distracted Gaara was. The next day Kankuro and Temari seemed uncharacteristically focused. There was only one day left until the sport’s festival after all. There were a lot of emotions running through everyone in UA that day. 

Gaara wasn’t sure how to feel himself. It wasn’t like he cared about the sports festival, but with everyone else worried and excited it was hard to distance himself from that. Gaara was still confused when the day of the event arrived. It didn’t help that Gaara didn’t know anything about the events that would be a part of the sports festival, or what he was going to be doing.

_“Relax! I am sure we will be able to beat people up today! That is sure to put you in a better mood.”_ Shukaku said, with a Cheshire Cat grin. 

Gaara hoped that the day would go as well as Shukaku thought it would.


	49. Chapter 46 ~ Shinso the Projectile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! This took a long time because we had to set up a whole bunch of things for the future plot, because it is coming up soon!! ALSO I think we failed to write in why Gaara actually got sick. Even though he himself does not feel totally safe yet, his body recognizes that he is now in a safe place to be able to be vulnerable. This happens when people finally get out of traumatic and unsafe places. So it was kinda meant as character growth.

Gaara was not happy. He had been forced to sit with all of his classmates in a small room while they were chattering away.

After what seemed like hours, Gaara and his class were summoned out of the room as he heard Yamada's voice announcing their class. This was not what he focused on, however, as he saw the massive amount of people in what looked like a huge stadium. For once, Gaara decided to initiate conversation.

"Um, why are there people here?" Gaara asked the person next to him, which just happened to be Todoroki. Todoroki looked very confused. Whether it is because of Gaara's question or by Gaara talking to him at all.

"It is the Sports Festival." Todoroki stated to Gaara.

"Yes?" Gaara replied.

"Well the Sports Festival is a heavy televised, highly attended event that happens at UA every year. It is..." Todoroki started explaining, trying to get Gaara to understand.

Gaara stopped paying attention to Todoroki as he had gotten his answer, and he was wondering as to why he was not informed of the fact that the Sports Festival actually had an audience. It was not like he cared in the first place, however, having it be public meant that the nuisance became a very bad itch.

" _I have been sitting on this for weeks! You were busy off in your own world when Tired Man was explaining about the Sports Festival._ _"_ Shukaku cackled. Gaara's face adopted a perturbed expression that Todoroki saw and immediately thought was aimed at him.

"I don't know what your deal is with me but I will unearth your secrets." Todoroki said, eyes narrowed. Gaara turned his face to Todoroki.

"Be careful what you wish for, you may not like the consequences." Gaara softly warned, a sad and distant look in his eyes. Todoroki was shocked, Gaara's words replayed in his mind.

Before Todoroki could respond, Midnight was calling for Bakugo to come and give a speech. Class 1-A was very tense as Bakugo made his way to the microphone.

" I just want to say that I pledge-" Bakugo started, pausing while feedback threatened to kill everyone's eardrums, "I will become number one." Murmurs broke out in the audience, " As for today, I'm gonna win," Bakugo walked back down and the class immediately started freaking out as the rest of the classes became even more against them.

When Todoroki turned back to continue his conversation with Gaara, the boy was gone.

Midnight announced the first event of the Sports Festival was to be an obstacle course. The mob of UA hopefuls were led to the start of the course. As soon as Midnight gave the signal, Todoroki was racing forward, pushing people out of the way with waves of ice.

He knew that leaving the track in a skating rink was rude, but he intended to win. He wasn't about to do anything less than his best to show his father he isn't needed. If others had to be inconvenienced to do so, then be it. **_(when you are writing and you realize that was a more Bakugou thing to say so you have to change it... then continue writing like Bakugou...)_**

When he froze the robots to blow past them, he ignored the angry cries and Present Mic's commentary and focused on his goal. ' _Just you watch,'_ Todoroki dodged a piece of metal that was headed his way, ' _Mom's ice is stronger than anything you gave me will ever be._ _'_

582 words of Todoroki being a salty boi

**_~~~_ **

**_Shinso got ready to kill the person who dared to insult his future husband. Bakugou. The man was dead. The man had hurt his broccoli boi one too many times and today was the last straw._ **

**_"OK sorry... I'll behave now, I prommmmissssseeee." Iwa-chan said guiltily._ **

****Shinso was ready to prove that he deserved a spot in the hero course when he caught something in the corner of his eye that made him freeze in shock.

"Um, Gaara?" Shinso asked the boy who was currently sitting on the ground, legs folded into a pretzel, "just what. Are you doing?" Gaara looked up at him with a bored expression on his face.

"Sitting." Gaara replied.

"You realize that the whole point of the course is to move and to win?" Shinso tried. Gaara shrugged.

"There really isn't a reason for me to do anything." Gaara said, feeling petty over the fact that he wasn't aware that the event was public.

"You could lose your place in heroics." Shinso rationed, trying to convince Gaara, who he was risking his spot in the hero course for and who was totally not his friend. Gaara shrugged again then he started thinking about it. Aizawa probably wouldn't be happy with him if that happened. Gaara shrugged again. That was a problem for future not petty Gaara to deal with.

"Come on!" Shinso said desperately, "I probably ruined my chance of getting into the hero course by spending all of this time, the least you can do is try!" Gaara blinked. Mostly all Shinso talked about was getting into the hero course and proving everyone wrong. Gaara glanced up at Shinso.

Shinso was just about to give up and start trying to make up the distance when a tendrel of sand suddenly grabbed him and the ground got further away. Shinso looked down and saw Gaara floating on sand, still in a pretzel.

"This is your quirk?!" Shinso shouted.

"One of them." Gaara shrugged.

"This is amazing!" Shinso laughed, "wait... one of them?" Gaara ignored the question. They were coming up to a chasm with ropes. "You can't just drop that and not give me more information!" Gaara shrugged again. "Fine, but we will talk about this later." Gaara looked at him thoughtfully and then smirked. "Um..." Shinso said nervously, he had never seen such a look on Gaara's face.

Suddenly, they stopped moving, the sand becoming tighter around Shinso as he was snapped backwards then slung forward across the chasom.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Shinso screamed as he was shot forward at incredible speeds. Lucky for Shinso, someone below was kind enough to catch him. "Thanks." Shinso said, voice rough from screaming.

"Your-" The student started.

"Good. Now take me to the goal as fast as possible." Shinso said as his quirk took effect on the poor student. At the end of this, Shinso was definitely going to kill Gaara. After he got his answers of course.

**_~~~_ **

Before Shinso had taken his unwilling unattended flight Gaara had decided that floating with Shinso wasn't that bad until he started asking too many questions, interrupting the peace.

" _You know you could totally launch him, I bet he would go very far. That boy is skin and bones... kinda like you._ _"_ Shukaku suggested. Gaara rolled his eyes.

" _His quirk is not physical, I don't think he would survive the impact with the ground."_ Gaara responded.

" _Please, the people that made it this far all want to be heroes. A hero in training would never let someone die, especially with millions of eyes on them._ _"_ Shukaku snorted. Gaara thought about it then decided that it was a good idea as Shinso had started questioning him again.

As he began to get ready to throw Shinso, Shukaku spoke up.

" _Wait really?_ _"_ Shukaku asked gleefully. Gaara shrugged as he let go of Shinso.

"Obviously." Gaara said as Shinso screamed bloody murder. Shukaku started laughing.

" _Finally! I thought we would never have fun together!_ _"_ Shukaku said manically.

"He was just being annoying, stop looking into it." Gaara snapped back. Gaara started floating again, although slower than when he was carrying Shinso.

" _I wanna win, Gaara!!_ _"_ Shukaku whined as Gaara floated over the struggling students below him, " _Get some conviction and self respect for once and show off!! This is soooo boring!!_ _"_

"Why?" Gaara complained.

" _Because! Don't you want to give your best effort, to be more? Besides, I don't think your new 'parents' will like it if you waste their efforts._ _"_ Shukaku huffed. Shukaku knew that he shouldn't say something like that to Gaara, especially when the boy had finally started making progress, but he was really annoyed with Gaara's laid back attitude.

Gaara fell silent and stopped where he was at. Shukaku realized that his comment may have made things worse. " _Gaara, I-_ _"_ Shukaku started, preparing to try and do damage control.

"No." Gaara softly dismissed, "You're right. I need to change if I want to move on. If doing well at a Sports Festival will make you happy, I guess I can try harder. I at least owe you and the others that much..." Gaara trailed off before continuing softly, "and I owe it to Him." Gaara sped up and Shukaku made no more attempts to communicate with him. Going further would likely make Gaara more upset and that would definitely be counter productive.

Due to his ability to float over the minefield, Gaara was able to pass most of the other students to finish eighth. Shukaku guessed that eighth was the best he could ask for from the boy.

Shinso had managed to finish fifth thanks to Gaara's 'help' at the beginning, throwing him unto someone who he could use to make it all the way in decent time.

Now that he knew Gaara's quirk, or one of them at least, he had expected Gaara to finish first, even with his major disadvantage. However, he was happy that Gaara did place in single digits, given that he had expressed that he did not care about the Sports Festival earlier.

However, Gaara was going to pay for throwing him without warning. He almost had a heart attack!

Shinso started his search for Gaara the second his name was called. It didn't take long to find him, as he was still floating above the ground.

"Hey!" Shinso yelled up at Gaara then added as an afterthought, "Shouldn't you be conserving your power for later?" Gaara shrugged.

"It won't matter. This doesn't take up much energy, and less people bother me this way." Gaara dismissed. However, he floated downwards to be able to talk with Shinso easier.

Gaara is rewarded with a light punch to the shoulder. Gaara looks at Shinso with hurt in his eyes. 

"You should really warn a pal before you throw them through the sky, I think that was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me!" Shinso claimed, not aware of Gaara's misunderstanding.

' _Oh great, not the best thing to happen after I messed up..._ _'_ Shukaku winced.

"I'm sorry." Gaara whispered, looking down. Shinso was shocked speechless. Gaara had never acted like this before around him.

"No! I was just surprised is all, you actually gave me an opportunity to use my quirk on the person that grabbed me." Shinso tried. Gaara looked up again.

"I didn't hurt you?" Gaara asked hesitantly.

"Nope! Not a scratch on me." Shinso raised his arms dramatically, "See?" Gaara looked closely before nodding his head. Shinso was going to ask Gaara about his behavior, when Midnight announces that the cut-off for moving to the next event was fulfilled.

She immediately starts to explain the next event. A calverley battle. The point system was determined by the order the students finished. First place got one million, second two hundred and five, and every place after that got five less points.

That left Shinso with one hundred and ninety points. He wondered who would be the best people to mind control to get the points that he would need to advance.

The first place winner, Midoriya, would be the target of everyone so people would notice if he wasn't in control of his actions, anyone in the top ten were bad options for similar reasons.

Looking around, Shinso saw Gaara who was making no attempt to find a group and was still floating by himself. Shinso sighed.

"Gaara?" Shinso caught his attention, "Would you be interested in joining together. Gaara floated, thinking for a moment before nodding hesitantly.

Gaara would be good at being carried so Shinso needed to find people that would be able to protect them from opposing teams. A quick glance around provides the perfect person.

Shinso walked over to the boy with titanium colored hair and Gaara floated after him confused.

"Hello, Tetsutetsu." Shinso said with a hand raised in greeting.

"Hello, I haven't seen y-" Tetsutetsu began energetically, before Shinso's quirk took over.

"What did you do?" Gaara quietly asked, coming to a stop right next to Shinso.

"Oh, just used my quirk to take him under my control. The usual," Shinso replied, looking for one more person to add to their team.

"Let him go." Gaara spoke softly, yet firmly. Shinso felt dred pooling in his stomach. He thought that Gaara would be someone who didn't think that he was a villain just because of his quirk, but he was wrong.

"We don't need anyone loud." Gaara frowned at him. Shinso gaped at him.

"Wait, let me clear something up. You don't think I am a villain?" Shinso asked, confused.

"No?" Gaara looked at Shinso, his face furrowed, "Wait, are you?"

"People always call me a villain when they find out what my quirk is." Shinso explained, face sad. Gaara shrugged.

"I mean, it is kinda rude to take control of him before asking him if he wanted to join, I mean what if he would have said yes? Then you wouldn't have to waste effort using him as a pawn when he could make his own, however, stupid decisions." Gaara said.

Shinso was lost. He did let Tetsutetsu back into control of his own actions though. Once Tetsutetsu had come back to reality he of course had to start being loud again.

"Whoa!!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, "That was the weirdest but also coolest experience I have ever had!" By these words Shinso was shocked a third time that day.

Tetsutetusu moved to clap his hand on Shinso's back, "Your quirk is so manly, man!" Shinso blinked. He was beginning to wonder if he was dead, or the amount of caffeine he consumed had finally sent him into a coma and he was off in la-la land. "How about you let me join you?" Tetsutetsu bolstered, "Without using your quirk, of course."

"No." Gaara stated firmly.

"Whoa! You're that one quiet kid from class 1-A! No one knows anything about you man! You're so mysterious!" Tetsutetsu admired noticing Gaara for the first time, "Wait, why not?" he added, confused.

"You're too loud." Gaara said flatly, "I have enough loud people in my life I don't need anymore." Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind him, interrupting the conversation.

"Hey Gaara? My name is Ojiro, I know we haven't spoken much, but I admire your skill and was wondering if you three would let me join you." a student with a tail spoke up.

"Sure." Gaara sighed, which caused Tetsutetsu to cry out.

"Hey why does he get to join?"

"Wait he isn't with you guys?" Ojiro asked.

"He gets to join because he is quiet. You are not." Gaara huffed.

"Gaara, Tetsutetsu would be useful to us." Shinso prodded.

"Not to mention, it looks like everyone has gotten into teams." Ojiro added. All three boys stared at Gaara.

"Fine." Gaara mumbled.

"YES!" Tetsutetsu cheered, "Now let's talk strategy."

Gaara tuned them out at this point, and the other boys became aware that he wasn't listening when they asked him a question and he didn't respond.

"I'm surprised he didn't do this sooner." Shinso snorted, "This is the most that I have ever heard him say since I met him."

"Yeah," Ojiro agreed, "he doesn't say much in class either."

"Then how are we going to all work together as a team?" Tetsutesu asked with a frown. Shinso rolled his eyes.

"He will end up doing the same thing either way." Shinso stated, "Besides, when the event starts he will be focused. It will work out just fine." The other two hesitantly agreed, the three of them finishing up their plan just as Midnight called for the event to start.


	50. Chapter 47 ~ Fighting Is Overrated, Unless Cats Are Involved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to Shinso! Enjoy the chapter! Has anyone else seen Ouija- Origins of Evil? We just watched it and it is really good. Or if you want a funny alternative, there is Ouija Shark... look up the trailer...

The second that Midnight started the battle, Gaara was lifted and placed on Shinso's shoulders. This snapped Gaara back to reality.

"Glad you could join us." Shinso joked, noticing that Gaara was back with them. Gaara sighed and lifted them up in the air, earning shouts of surprise from two of his teammates and a groan from the other.

"You can make us all levitate? So cool man!" Tetsutetsu gushed.

"Yes, it is sand, and be careful, last time I got a ride I was flung through the air. Not interested in repeating that experience again today." Shinso grumbled, effectively shutting Tetsutetsu up.

"Well, I guess that our original plan can work in the air as well." Ojiro commented, "How exactly does your quirk work, Gaara?"

"I control the sand." Gaara said.

"Ok..." Ojiro glanced at Shinso, who shrugged in response.

"He is your classmate, don't look at me." Shinso stated when Ojiro was not satisfied with the shrug. "Ok Gaara." he continued, "We need to get more points, our plan is to use my quirk, if I can get the person that is being carried to answer, to take the other team's headbands while Ojiro fends the others off with his tail and Tetsutetsu supplies more support. You just keep the headbands away from everyone else." Gaara nodded, encasing the headbands in sand.

"What will help us out is a lot of people will be focused on getting the ten million points." Ojiro continued.

"So we are going to use this to our advantage and snatch the headbands away from the teams that are trying to get the ten million points." Shinso explained.

"Even though that is unheroic." Tetsutetsu concluded.

"No, it is just using people to your advantage." Shinso refuted. The team did not have any more time to talk, however, as Gaara had decided to veer suddenly to the left when he saw a team wide open.

"Hey you!" Shinso shouted, not having enough warning to actually come up with anything witty or targeted to say.

Shinso started to wonder who on their team was blessed with god level good luck because the rider responded, "Who, me?" the student asked, confused.

 ****" _No, your gay best friend"_ Shukaku said, while Shinso took control of the kid with an eyeroll. He wished that the Purple boy could hear him. Shukaku imagined that they would get along very well. When Shukaku was fondly thinking about all of the mischief he and the kid could get up to, Gaara was busy being confused over Shukaku's comment. He would have to ask Shukaku what he meant later... or maybe Temari. She was less likely to laugh at him.

It was very easy to get the headbands from the team of two, seeing as the rider was trying to give away the headbands caused the other to have limited reactions to the attack.

The second that Tetsutetsu has hold of them, Gaara sends them back up into the air, higher than they were before. Tetsutetsu handed the headbands up to Gaara, who added them to the rest.

"Hey, Gaara?" Shinso asked breathlessly, "How bout letting us know before you suddenly rush another team like that." Gaara nodded, noticing another team that was distracted.

"We are going down eighty degrees to the right with a slope of nine, you have approximately five seconds before contact." Gaara notified them, feeling very reliable.

This time their strategy did not go over as well. The rider of the four person team was nowhere to be seen, and a tongue shot at them, causing Gaara to turn them all upside down to avoid it.

"GAARA!!" Tetsutetsu shouted, "TURN US RIGHTSIDE UP AGAIN!" Gaara ignored him for he had spotted the rider when he tried to make for Midoryia's headband. The grape midget had been hiding in his masked classmate's arms. "GAARA, PLEASE!!!!" Gaara continued to ignore him and suddenly got free of Sinsou, grabbing the grape's headbands as the boy in question made another pass for Midoriya's. Gaara immediately was back on Shinso's shoulders, avoiding the reaching arms of his masked classmate, and then finally fulfilling Tetsutetsu's wish to flip them back over.

The other headbands joined the ones they already had. Gaara wondered if that meant they weren't lonely. "Really?" Tetsutetsu inquired when he got his bearings back, "You really had to leave us hanging like that?" **_(oof the punnnn)_** Gaara shrugged in response.

"That was kinda unnecessary." Shinso agreed.

"And very disorienting." Ojiro said, holding his head. Gaara blinked at them and he realized that hanging upside down may not be as pleasant for people without the ability to do it whenever they want.

"Sorry," Gaara offered, "How many more of these do you want? The numbers on most of those were really large." It was Shisno's turn to shrug.

"What do you guys think?" Shinso yawned.

"Well if we can manage to keep all of the headbands that we have now, I think that we should be good to make it to the next round." Ojiro said thoughtfully.

"Yeah some of those _were_ really big." Tetsutetsu affirmed.

**_(Most groups: Freaking out, stressing out about how to either keep their points or take enough._ **

**_Shinshin's group: Chillin out wondering whether they should do anything)_ **

"I can take us higher so that we are out of reach of the other teams?" Gaara offered, trying to make up for leaving his team like sleeping bats.

"That could work." Ojiro acknowledged.

"Tetsutetsu?" Shinso inquired.

"Fine." Tetsutetsu muttered. Gaara took them up high enough that they could barely hear Present Mic's loud voice giving a play by play of the chaotic battle. Gaara was persuaded to go a little lower so they could listen for Midnight signaling the end so they could return to the ground. 

When Midnight announced that the time was up, Gaara took them back below. Tetsutetsu immediately fell to the ground and started kissing it, promising that he would never leave it for the sky ever again. This was probably a relationship not meant to last in the life of a hero, you never knew what was going to happen. Somehow UA knew which teams had which headbands without any of the teams having to report them.

As their team was announced in third place, Gaara looked over at Shinso to see him having a soft smile on his face. Gaara was glad that he could help Shinso achieve his dream, it would be the first thing that he had ever done to help someone progress in their lives.

" _Stop being such a sap."_ Shukaku snorted. **_(way to ruin the moment.)_**

All of the students were dismissed for lunch and the extra events to follow.

Gaara followed Shinso back through the stadium and the tunnels before Shinso turned around.

"You know that I am going back to the General Studies students, right?" Shinso asked. Gaara shrugged. "You need to find your own class." Gaara blinked at him, then turned around like a lost puppy and started to wander through the tunnels.

Gaara was lost. " _Yeah, like that is such a surprise."_ Shukaku grumbled.

"It's not my fault." Gaara protested, annoyed.

" _You're the one that decided to follow the kid from another class like a lemur instead of paying attention to your surroundings!"_ Shukaku snapped. Gaara felt like that was fair, and resorted to aimlessly walking with a defeated expression.

When he turned down a hallway and almost rammed into an angry pomeranian. He immediately turned to leave, he really didn't want to deal with him at the moment, but Bakugo grabbed him and was about to start shouting at him when they heard both the bush boy and Todoroki's voices.

Gaara renewed his struggling with more viger, desperately wanting to get away from the bombshell that was that combination. Gaara was about to use his sand to separate himself from Bakugou, however, the conversation between the other two boys got very intense and he realized that being caught 'eavesdropping' would be more risky than not getting away from Bakugo's grip.

As they listened to the conversation Gaara started to realize that things made a lot more sense now.

" _Dude! You guys both have/had trash for fathers! If that is not fated friendship, I don't know what would be."_ Shukaku said proudly.

" _That doesn't matter in a friendship, besides, I don't think he likes me very much. He is always staring at me."_ Gaara explained, fidgeting in Bakugou's grasp.

Gaara let out an inward sigh and stood there until the pair finished talking. Bakugo leaves right after that, headed back the way Gaara came, while Midoriya and Todoroki went two other ways.

Gaara stumbled into the place where the two had been talking, only to see Todoroki slink out of the shadows.

" _That. Was so cool."_ Shukaku admired, " _You should do that instead of bumbling around everywhere."_ Gaara ignored the raccoon-dog. Had Todoroki known that they had been listening?

"You were listening." Todoroki said flatly. Well that answered that question. Gaara nodded.

"I meant to leave, even before you and Midoriya started talking. Bakugo was holding me captive." Gaara admitted. Todoroki narrowed his eyes.

"Couldn't you have gotten away?" Todoroki asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Gaara stated truthfully, "However, I did not want to interrupt for it seemed to be very important for you to share." Todoroki blinked at him.

"Look I don't know what your deal is and your attitude with everything, but you are in this class like everyone else, and just like everyone else, I will crush you if it means achieving my goal." Todoroki declared.

"Deal?" Gaara asked, very confused. Todoroki seemed to grow agitated by Gaara's question. Shukaku just shook his head at how oblivious the both of them were to social cues.

"Don't say that like you don't know what I am talking about," Todoroki narrowed his eyes again, "And don't think I don't know who your secret father is. I don't know the details yet but I will not stop until I get them." Gaara looked at him shocked and very confused.

"My father is dead... but I guess I have two dads? Or at least I will? Does that make three?" Gaara muttered, trying to figure out what exactly Todoroki ment.

" _He thinks that Aizawa is your biological father!"_ Shukaku cackled, " _That is absolutely hilarious. The kid has so many theories, and the best part is they actually make sense and come close to the truth!"_ ( ** _"Does that count as a fourth wall break?" Iwa-chan asked.... "Eh, whatever... Shukaku is troublesome enough that he would do that anyways...")_**

"Gaara." A familiar voice spoke up from the passage that Midoryia had gone down, "I need to speak with you." Gaara blinked at Aizawa while Todoroki looked between the two with a suspicious glare before walking past Aizawa. "I know you were holding back during the first round," Aizawa stated, noticing Gaara tense up, "If you would like to be a hero, you need to put your best effort into everything. You need to make sure you are able to keep yourself safe so that you can save the others around you. If you never push yourself and get into a position that you could have been prepared for beforehand, you may never forgive yourself, or worse, you get everyone around you killed and yourself." Gaara visibly relaxed when he realized that he was not in immediate danger.

"So for that reason, and to prove to yourself that you are important, I am expecting you to put everything you have into your battles or you will be banned from coffee for two months." Aizawa finished. Gaara shrugged, he was unsure just what he was doing in the hero course just yet and besides didn't even like coffee anyways.

 _"Are you sure that you are not just defining him because you hate doing what others want you to do?"_ Shukaku interjected. He knew Gaara pretty well and was almost completely sure that this was the real reason he was being difficult. Gaara had already made up his own mind about the last event.

Aizawa realized that he just made a punishment that would be a life ending event for himself but he had never even seen Gaara drink coffee. He decided that that was something the boy needed introducing to. Aizawa's face contorted into a wicked grin.

"Alright, I will make you a deal. If I see that you do your best during this last event I will take you to a Cat Café." Aizawa leaned back, knowing he had won. Unfortunately, Aizawa underestimated the level of Gaara's unawareness.

"You eat cats?" Gaara asked, backing away from the man with an unreadable expression. Aizawa put his hands on his face.

"No. A Cat Cafe is where you can pet as many cats as you want while you are eating." Gaara's horrified expression melted away being replaced by excited curiosity. "Only if you try your best." Aizawa reminded him. Gaara nodded eagerly, already imagining all the possibilities.

" _Oh how the mighty have fallen."_ Shukaku mocked, " _You have been felled by the mere mention of cats."_ Gaara was too happy to care.

He walked down the hallway that everyone else disappeared down and his classmates almost passed out from shock when they saw him with a determined yet uncharacteristically cheerful expression on his face.

When they were called out for the other events Gaara was paying no attention until it was announced who it was he would be fighting. The quiet girl with the black hair.

Momo shivered as she felt Gaara's gaze on her. She never knew that the small, quiet boy could emit such a threatening presence. Momo was worried with the large audience, she had been around people all of her life but this was different. She was here to prove herself and be the daughter that her parents deserved, and maybe start the path of being worthy to be their successor. She was going to give her all.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara was waiting for Midnight to begin the fight uncharacteristically impatient. He was really bored with the Sports Festival and the only thing that kept him from floating away was the cat cafe that he had been promised if he did his best.

Gaara was worried at first that going all out would be a bad idea for both himself and his opponent. As much as he didn't like his loud classmates, he didn't want to kill any of them... that would certainly mean no cat cafe.

 _"It will be finnnneee. These are hero students! They are not flimsy little dolls, they can sustain a lot of damage. Even if they can't, they have lots of medical people on standby to make sure the idiots don't die."_ Shukaku complained, " _I get to help too right? Cause technically if I don't help that is not living up to your full potential meaning no cat cafe."_

"No. That is too much." Gaara stated firmly, "Too much..." Gaara repeated softly.

" _Fine."_ Shukaku huffed, " _I'll be here if you need me... like always."_ Gaara was confused as to why Shukaku wasn't being more difficult and his choice of words. They didn't seem as harsh as usual. " _But don't think my help won't cost you a formal apology."_ That was more like his normal personality but something still felt off. Gaara shrugged and decided he would think about it later.

Gaara got increasingly restless as the one on one battles began. Midoriya won his battle against Shinso, and as Gaara watched him return to his seat during Sero and Todoroki's fight (which Todoroki dominated in an impressive display of power, which Shukaku loved) he could sense that his friend acquaintance was conflicted.

Gaara had to wonder what had happened in the stadium. Midoriya likely said something to him, that seemed to be what the boy did best. He shook his head. Thinking about Shinso made him remember that the purple boy was going to confront him later. Gaara really hated answering questions.

The third match up left Shukaku crying because he was laughing so hard. " _That girl is the best thing ever. She used engines to show off her things, that is so hardcore!"_ Shukaku chortled.

Gaara kept his expression stony, both inside and out, with skill that can only have been brought about by a lot of practice.

The Shocky Boy from the Boom-Boom squad won against Ojiro, which brought Gaara a little twinge of disappointment for some reason. It was probably because of the fact that Ojiro was quieter than the other boy. Yes, that would be the only reason.

" _Yup. That would be the only reason, the only thing that I can think of."_ Shukaku said sarcastically. Gaara ignored him as the 'unwilliing' leader of the Boom-Boom Squad was about to fight the happy brown haired girl.

She didn't look so happy now, more determined. " _She just became less annoying... or more annoying, I haven't decided yet."_ Shukaku commented. Bakugo won much to the despair of the crowd until Aizawa's voice was heard over the loudspeakers and Gaara immediately stopped listening when he started defending Bakugo.

**_[Hello. This is the authors. We do not hate Bakugou (much). We believe that he needs to redeem himself and he needs to change. You cannot just suicide someone and get away with it. Ok. Good. However, this is fanfiction so like we can make him apologetic and redeem him (through Kiri of course... and Aizawa... and other various characters). Gaara is not us however. So what he thinks doesn't necessarily reflect what we think. He has been through a lot so you can imagine how he feels about Bakugou. Seriously, you will have to deduce it from his actions and words because if we told you that would be a spoiler. Unless we contradict ourselves cause Gaara starts to just voice random things lol. Don't worry, Kiribaku is still definitely endgame and will happen!]_ **

Gaara really did not like the feel of Bakugo. His aura is a mess and this is further confused by his words and actions. It is very rare for all of the aspects to line up and more often than not, none of them are in agreement. Gaara had decided that Bakugo was a ticking time bomb and he didn't want to be there when that aura exploded.

" _Hm, if I didn't know better I would have thought you were describing yourself there, Gaara."_ Shukaku snarked. Gaara sat in silence as two people with essentially the same quirk started a battle that was a lost cause.

"Maybe I was." Gaara mused. Shukaku went silent and didn't speak even as Gaara sat in silence in the room he was given to prepare, and only spoke when Midnight was about to announce the start of the battle.

" _You win without me, got it?"_ Shukaku said, feeling cheesy.

"I will." Gaara promised, just as Midnight started the fight.

**_~~~_ **

It was over before it really started. Gaara flung his hand forward, and sand followed, picking the girl up and gently setting her outside of the ring.

"Yaoyorozu Momo is out of bounds, Gaara wins the match." Yamada screamed into his microphone, you could see Aizawa's hair floating, so Gaara assumed that Aizawa had erased his quirk before he had a chance to use it. Why they would be excited that he won was beyond him.

Gaara looked across the ring at the black haired girl and she looked dejected. At least his victory was for a good cause, Gaara was really looking forward to that cat cafe.

On his way back to the stands, the purple haired classmate ran into him.

"Sorry." She muttered apologetically, "I shouldn't have been running." Gaara nodded and went to continue back to the stands, "Wait!" she shouted to him, forcing him to turn around.

"Did you see Yaoyorozu?" She asked nervously. Gaara shook his head. "Oh, sorry." the girl turned to leave.

"She looked upset," Gaara stated softly, "Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise, you just won." the girl said confused, "I better find her now, good luck in your next match!" Gaara turned back around and continued back to the stands.

Once Gaara arrived back, he was congratulated then informed by Iida that he would be facing Tsukuyomi in his next match. Gaara had missed the first part of the fight between Midoryia and Todoroki, but they seemed to be dancing around each other. Midoryia was yelling at Todoroki and from what followed after, Gaara assumed it was something about his father.

As the smoke dissipated, Midoryia was lying on the ground unresponsive, arms ruined. Todoroki looked upset and he was staring at his left hand, when suddenly he clenched it and walked after Midoriya, who was being wheeled out on a stretcher.

Iida won against Kaminari, although it was close until Kaminari missed with his quirk and short circuited. Gaara had to head down to his preparation room, so he could not watch the match between Boom-Boom boy and the red spiky boy.

Gaara didn't know much about the crow-like boy. It wouldn't matter much as long as he is careful and pays attention. Not that he needs to win, he just needs to put forth his best effort.

Gaara stood across from the bird who Yamada introduced as Tsukuyomi and Midnight signaled for the fight to begin. A dark, crow-like shadow emerged from the boy and Gaara immediately froze. He studied the shape and determined that the thing was not the same being as Shukaku.

" _Well duh,"_ Shukaku rolled his eyes, " _Do you think I wouldn't have noticed if another Tails was just in your class?"_

" _You could have noticed and not told me, you tend not to tell me important information."_ Gaara retaliated.

" _Please. I wouldn't hide something like that from you."_ Shukaku sighed.

Tsukyomi was confused as to why Gaara was just standing where he started instead of immediately coming after him like he did with Yaoyorozu. Gaara at first looked shocked, then his face contorted into one of annoyance and the boy rolled his eyes. He seemed to be having a silent conversation.

"This boy seems to be insane." Dark Shadow stated, shamelessly. The boy heard and he looked up again in shock.

"Dark Shadow, it is not kind to call people insane." Tsukuyomi reprimanded. He was beginning to think that he had some type of personality disorder since the boy always was talking to himself or staring off into the distance. However, that is not a reason to call someone insane or to make fun of them.

Gaara was just shocked that the shadow could talk. Maybe he was more like Shukaku than he thought.

" _Hey! Only I can call him insane!"_ Shukaku said, offended.

"Well if he is just going to stand there, we might as well attack." Tsukuyomi decided, "Dark Shadow, now!" Dark Shadow barreled to the left, amming to veer at the last moment and hit Gaara's stomach, sending him flying backward.

Sand rose up behind Gaara and a wall appeared in front of him to block the attack.

" _I think we should fight this one together."_ Shukaku advocated. Dark Shadow retreated back to Tsukuyomi.

"This is nothing I can't handle." Dark Shadow hissed, "Let's attack again!"

"Alright fine." Gaara caved, "I remain in control and you are only allowed to feed me power or provide assistance if we are about to lose."

" _Yassss"_ Shukaku said, and immediately started sending his strength to Gaara. It wasn't exactly what Shukaku wanted, but progress was progress he guessed.

Dark Shadow was headed toward Gaara again, however the sand started swirling around the boy and lifting him up. More sand started oozing up from the ground, slowly increasing the size of the storm surrounding Gaara.

"Dark Shadow!" Tsukuyomi shouted, "We have to attack now or-" most of the sand disappeared, leaving only a small amount surrounding Gaara.

Dark Shadow had heard Tsukuyomi and surged forward again only to have his target disappear before him. Tsukuyomi cried out and turned around to see Gaara behind him.

Suddenly the world grew dark and Tsukuyomi couldn't breathe. As quickly as the sand appeared, it was suddenly gone. The crowd was silent.

"Tsukuyomi is out of bounds, Gaara wins." Midnight announces, breaking the silence.

"GAARA WIns!" Yamada screamed, shaking Aizawa.

Gaara walked over to Tsukuyomi. "You're interesting." Gaara said flatly and walked away, supposedly to go back to the stands.

"That was strange." Tsukuyomi commented.

"I have been telling you something was off about the guy since day one!!" Dark Shadow maintained.

"I am beginning to agree with you." Tsukuyomi allowed.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara was very happy. He knew that he was doing his best, therefore he was going to be able to go to the cat cafe. No matter who he had to fight to do so.

Gaara decided to not go back to the stands and instead go and sit in the waiting room where he would wait for his next fight.

" _You'll let me help with this one too, right?"_ Shukaku asked.

"Alright. Same rules as before." Gaara sighed.

Gaara was called surprisingly quickly and he made his way out to the ring to see Bakugo. The boy growled at him from where he was standing and Gaara just let out a sigh.

" _Yay! We get to fight the Boom-Boom boy!"_ Shukaku cheered.

"...and fight!" Midnight finished. As soon as the words left her mouth Bakugou braced himself to launch himself forward.

Gaara also braced himself, but to retaliate to Bakugo's attack, instead of directly attacking the boy right away.

" _Gaara something is w-_ _"_ Shukaku started and was cut off as Gaara's eyes widened as there was a white arrow sticking out of his chest. The last thing he saw was Bakugo's eyes lighting up in fury, then the world went black.


	51. Chapter 48 ~ Secrets Spilled and Doughnuts Threatened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello......................? Erm... enjoy the chapter? It got a little crack-ish but I guess you all deserve it after that cliffhanger... (Like really crack-ish... dunno how that happened.

Temari's emotions had been a rollercoaster throughout Gaara's performance. She had been very worried when the event started and he had not moved and the Shinso boy had started talking to him. She grew even more worried when Gaara had thrown the boy through the air and Kankuro had let out a gasp. She was relieved when Gaara had sped up enough to finish in the single digits. Temari watched as their brother finished eighth with joy in her heart.

She was once again worried when the cavalry battle was announced, knowing Gaara did not work with others well but smiled when a small group formed around him and they made it through to the final round.

She watched with pride as Gaara won his first match in the first few seconds, and in fear when he froze in the second only to unleash an extremely powerful attack.

The emotions she was feeling right now, however, were terror and anger.

Kankuro grabbed her arm as Gaara was hit with a white arrow that had seemingly come out of nowhere and they watched with dread as he collapsed going limp. They knew that something was going to happen, and someone would need to stop it, fast.

**_~~~_ **

Aizawa watched as Gaara beat Yaoyurozu in three seconds with pride, knowing his bribe had worked. Luckily he realized that Hizashi was about to use his quirk, because that would likely cause everyone's eardrums to burst or destroy the sound system.

He wasn't as lucky the second match, as Gaara had caught him off guard with the way he won. Aizawa rubbed his ears.

"Zashi. You really need to stop doing that." Aizawa grumbled, "I am going to go deaf too."

"Sorry," Yamada apologised, "I am just excited for the little listener!"

"I know." Aizawa sighed.

Aizawa's phone went off during the Iida/Todoroki match.

**The Boss Mouse** : Thought you should be aware that the Hero Killer, Stain, attacked Iida Tensei. He is alive but in the hospital. I expect to see you in my office soon for tea. It's been a while.

**Tired Teacher:** Thank you for letting me know, I will be sure to keep my eyes on him.

**The Boss Mouse:** **👁️👁️** And the tea?

**Tired Teacher:** I will stop by sometime next week.

**The Boss Mouse:** Bring Yamada with you as well! I haven't seen him either :(

**Tired Teacher:** Fine.

**The Boss Mouse:** ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ

"Tensei was attacked by the hero killer." Aizawa said, after making sure that the microphone was off.

"Is he ok?!" Yamada asked, dropping his mug, that was thankfully empty.

"He is alive but in the hospital." Aizawa quoted, "That is all that Nezu said, I imagine that there will be more news soon."

"Iida..." Yamada mumbled, and Midnight announced that Todoroki was the winner, "Todoroki moves on to the finals!" Yamada shouted, switching on his mic, "Who will join him? Gaara the sand user or Bakugo Katsuki? Let's find out!" Yamada switched off his mic again. "Gaara's got this." He said confidently.

"Yes," Aizawa agreed, "As long as-" Aizawa stood up as a white arrow-like thing embedded itself in Gaara's chest, causing him to collapse. Yamada grabbed Aizawa's hand and they abandoned the booth to head down to Gaara.

**_~~~_ **

Tsukuyomi decided to watch Gaara's next match more closely than from the stands. He convinced the person in the tunnels to let him watch there. He wanted to further observe the boy's fighting style. Something was strange, the way that Gaara fought in class was very different from how he fought today.

"Well here we go." Dark Shadow said.

"Yeah." Tsukuyomi replied. Suddenly Gaara collapsed, just as the match started.

"Is he playing dead, or is the match already over?" Dark Shadow asked.

"I-" Tsukuyomi trailed off as Gaara rose up, his head hanging to the side as the sand started swirling around him. The sand hardened and shaped itself into a beast like form with purple making patterns in the sand.

"Are you seeing what is happening or is this just me?" Dark Shadow asked nervously. Midnight started releasing her quirk but Gaara stood there not reacting to it.

"If you are talking about Gaara, then yes." Tsukuyomi confirmed.

Gaara snaps his head in Tsukuyomi's direction, as if he heard Tsukuyomi talking. Gaara started drifting closer to him, but shouting from Bakugo makes Gaara rip back around and reach out his enhanced left hand sending sand that surrounds Bakugo's arm and then Bakugo lets out a strangled scream.

Tsukuyomi makes what just may be the worst decision in his life.

He runs out and yells at Gaara.

"Hey!" Tsukuyomi shouted. Gaara's attention turned towards him.

"Hey, over here!" Dark Shadow shouted. Turning his attention to Dark Shadow instead. If they could keep him not targeting one person, they could keep him from attacking. Tsukuyomi glanced over at Bakugo with a wince. His hand was mangled, blood dripping and pooling on the ground.

"No over here!" Midnight shouted, catching on. This strategy did not end up working as Gaara let out a frustrated, inhuman growl. Sand started swirling around all four of the people in the stadium, and then suddenly it stopped.

Tsukuyomi turned around to see Aizawa-sensei's quirk activated and he stood there out of breath.

Gaara collapsed again, and Yamada suddenly appeared behind him and hurried forward, picking up Gaara's limp form. Mic-sensei's shoulders sagged in relief.

"He is just knocked out, there is no physical damage that would show that he would have been hit with an arrow." Mic-sensei asserted.

"Wait, he was hit by an arrow?" Tsukuyomi blurted. Aizawa and Mic looked at him as if just noticing he was there.

"Yes, you didn't see? It came from the audience." Aizawa-sensei stated, "We should get him out of the stadium and the public eye, Hizashi, head back up to the box, find my phone then the twins... although knowing them, you will either bump into them first or they will already be down here looking for Gaara."

' _Hizashi?'_ Tsukuyomi thought to himself, ' _That must be Present Mic's first name... or it could be his last, but that is a weird last name... they must know each other well to be on a first-name basis, I didn't think that they were that close."_ Mic-sensei winced.

"Yeah, meet you there." Mic looked at the ruined ring, "It will take them a while before they can fix that, and Bakugo will need to be healed, oh! Bakugo! Recovery Girl is on her way over" Mic-sensei gestured to where the lady was hurrying over to the scene and Bakugo gave a nod, still in shock.

' _You would think that he would have been their first concern... he may just lose that arm yet..."_ Tsukuyomi wondered, confused. **_(Ah... the joys of parenthood)_**

Aizawa took one look at Bakugo, flung Gaara over his shoulder, told Recovery Girl that he was taking Gaara to her office and left. Mic-sensei left right after him.

"Hey kid, are you alright?" Midnight asked. Tsukuyomi nodded.

"Will Bakugo be alright?" Tsukuyomi asked, glancing at Recovery Girl.

"Yes, it may look bad but the sand just pierced the first three layers of his skin. He may have a few scars, but you acting when you did prevented him from further damage." Recovery Girl spoke up, "Now, I will heal you, but you will need to rest for a while so we WILL postpone the last match." She said pointedly, staring at Midnight.

"Of course we will." Midnight answered, "Besides, I think Hizashi will be out of the box for a while... Shota too... we may need to find a replacement for him to make sure the public is put at ease." Recovery Girl hummed in response.

"Bakugo you are good to go, get some rest, here are some gummies. Tsukuyomi, you should go back to your seat. I think it will be damage control at this point, since both of our announcers just abandoned the box without saying anything." Recovery Girl grunted. As if summoning said person, Mic-sensei's voice broke out over the speakers as Tsukuyomi wandered back to his seat, deep in thought.

"Bakugo was the winner of the match because of the disqualification of Gaara. We are working on figuring out who shot an arrow at one of our students. If you have any information, please immediately notify a pro." Yamada spoke confidently, "We will continue with the final match shortly..." He looks down at his phone to see a text from Nemuri, "as soon as possible. Use this time to use the restroom, or get concessions! I know I will be getting some fries! Until then it looks like.... Principal Nezu is taking over the press box?"

"Hello everyone!" Nezu said with a grin, "I brought a guest with me! Detective Tsukauchi! Come and sit down!" **_(why is the detective there you ask? Cause we said so. Deal with it.)_**

"Ok, with that I will leave you in their capable hands!" Tsukauchi shot Yamada a pleading glance and Yamada gave him a small apologetic wave and started walking away before rushing back to the microphone, "If the twins are still in range, you know who you are, I will be by- nevermind." The twins peered into the press box expectantly. "Er, goodbye!" Yamada concluded awkwardly.

"Whereisheisheok?" Temari rushed out, "Isthatboyalright?"

"Calm down there, Bakugo is fine and Gaara was too, no physical damage, he was unconscious and he is in Recovery Girl's office, most likely being checked out now." Yamada somehow managed to answer all of Temari's questions, breathing a sigh of relief as the pair began to walk back out of the press box to head to Gaara.

**_~~~_ **

Midoriya is surprised when he sees Aizawa carrying Gaara into Recovery Girl's office and placing him gently on the bed next to him. Midoryia's arms would never be the same because of his fight with Todoroki, however he thought that it would be worth it in the long run.

"Aizawa-sensei?" Midoriya asked. **_(Asked almost turned into sassed and I was like... dang Mido)_**

"Hm?" Aizawa responded, grabbing a chair and pulling it beside Gaara's bed.

"Is Gaara-kun alright?"

"I hope so." Aizawa said softly.

"What happened? He was fighting Kach-Bakugo, right?" Midoriya quickly corrected himself.

"Well kind of, wait how did you know that problem child? You have been in here since round two."

"Um, well I kinda figured it would be Gaara and Kacchan fighting in the third round so I just assumed that something happened and I was just worried and-" Aizawa cut Midoriya off.

"It's fine. You seem to have a very perceptive mind. Gaara was attacked, we are assuming by a quirk that has something to do with arrows. He is physically fine, Recovery Girl is going to check him out." Aizawa paused, "And just what is your relationship with Bakugo?" **_(writing Bakugou without the u is sooooo hard for me. I do it every single time now, but since we started it without it... uhggggggg)_**

"Ummmmm... we are childhood friends?" Midoriya tried, "Wait, does that mean that someone else hurt him?"

"Yes, but don't change the subject. I don't think that is everything. You do not treat each other as childhood friends would."

"Urm...well, we are... we have known each other all of our lives, our moms are even best friends and everything, it just got kinda complicated when Kacchan's quirk came in and mine didn't and like he wasn't happy he didn't want to hang out with a quirkless Deku and I guess like he didn't like hanging out as much it is kinda-" Midoriya panicked, being cut off by Aizawa again.

"Wait. You were quirkless? When did you get your quirk?" Aizawa asked with narrowed eyes.

Knowing he'd messed up Midoryia stammered out, "The day of the exam..." Aizawa put his head in his hands.

"And you didn't seem to think that was important to tell me, problem child?"

"Well I thought that you were upset that I didn't have control over my quirk and that you would expel me and I couldn't risk that, UA is my dream and I just didn't think that it would be a problem as long as I worked as hard as I could to-"

"No wonder you have been breaking your bones." Aizawa sighed, "Problem child, I wouldn't expel you, I would have gotten you someone to work with you on your quirk. It is extremely rare that your quirk would come in so late, and who knows what medical effects that had and has on you."

"Well, All-Might was helping me control it-"

"All-Might knew!? And he didn't tell me? Your homeroom teacher? Whose responsibility is to protect you and to make you into the best hero you could be?" Aizawa seethed, "I will definitely be having a talk with him, that-"

"Shota!!" Yamada yelled, "How is the little listener?" Aizawa looked behind him and sighed.

"Don't think you are off the hook yet Midoriya, we will be talking about both your quirk, and Bakugo later." Aizawa huffed, eyes narrowing further, "And you. This is a medical ward. Stop being so loud and be considerate." Snickers could be heard from behind Yamada.

Midoriya sat up shell-shocked, "Sho..ta?" He hadn't realized the two teachers were close.

"Recovery Girl isn't here yet. So I don't know." Aizawa continued, "And yes, Midoriya, he said Shota. That IS my first name afterall."

The twins and Yamada had walked in and were standing around Gaara. Yamada hooked his arms around Aizawa.

"Hizashi. Midoriya?" Aizawa reminded.

"Eh, it is bound to come out eventually, you can't keep it a secret forever Sho." Yamada dismissed.

"Sho.... secret?" Midoriya mumbled, suddenly his eyes went wide.

"Thanks a lot, Hizashi. I expect you to keep this a secret Midoriya, if your classmates find out they will never stop trying to talk to me about it." Aizawa sighed again, and the twins were full on laughing now, despite the fact their brother was lying unconscious on a medical bed.

"Wait, you guys are together!?" Midoriya voiced.

"Yup. This is my tired husband. You students are lucky you see him after he has his coffee in the morning." Yamada joked, bringing more laughter from the twins. Midoriya sputtered trying to figure out how that was possible.

"So you're gay? How are you two together, you are like the exact opposites? Does this mean that they are right when they say that opposites attract? Wait, why are you both here? Why do you have the twins with you? Wait, they are Gaara's siblings... are they your kids? I don't remember any people with either of your last names at UA..." Aizawa took a deep breath. He could already feel the headache that was coming.

"Hizashi is gay, yes. I am demisexual. I don't know how we ended up together, don't ask me. We are here to make sure Gaara is alright. No they are not our kids..." Aizawa stated, "yet." Midoriya continued to stare at him, slack jawed, switching between everyone else in the room. "Please keep this a secret also."

"Oh! You're gay as well? I didn't know that before... well I guess that you wouldn't be married or in a relationship with Aizawa-sensei if you were not so that was a dumb question. And does that mean you are adopting them? Why would they need to be adopted? Oh, I guess that is a rude question. There are plenty of reasons that someone would need to be adopted. I am sorry for my rudeness... and I am rambling again... sorry I ramble when I get nervous." Midoryia finished. The twins were full on cackling at this point, and thankfully for Midoryia and Aizawa, Recovery Girl chose that moment to come in.

Everyone fell silent as Recovery Girl examined Gaara, waiting for a verdict.

"From what I can tell, he is fine. He is just unconscious and should wake up soon... which leads to rather upsetting conclusions." Recovery Girl reported.

"Someone knew what would happen." Aizawa confirmed, a grim look on his face that was shared with everyone else in the room, except Midoriya.

"I'm guessing this is another one of those things that I can't know about and am supposed to keep secret?" Midoryia guessed.

**_~~~_ **

"You were right, boss. He was one." A voice spoke into a phone. The person themselves was leaning against the trunk of a tree, not too far away from the stadium where they knew the pros were searching for them. A grunt could be heard from the other end.

"Good. We finally rooted it out. Report back to base." The male voice grinned out of the phone.

"Yay! Can I have a doughnut when I get back? Or did you all eat them on me?" The person asked hopefully.

"Of course they saved one for you. I don't know why they bother. You are such an annoying person."

"Hey boss man, that isn't very nice."

"You know it is true." The person standing against the tree pouted.

"But I am adorable! Who doesn't like an adorable threat!"

"Hurry up and get back here or I will find where they hid your doughnut and squash it."

"Ok, fineeee." The person huffed and hung up on their boss. "Well I hope you are ready Tails quirk boy, cause we are coming for you." The person announced to thin air, and skipped happily all the way back to their hideout to eat their doughnut. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONGRATULATIONS You met one of our favorite characters! They are a little... interesting...


	52. Chapter 49 ~ Does this count as a mic drop?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I don't remember if we mentioned this or not but one of the reasons that Gaara was sick a couple chapters ago was because of trauma. When you get out of a traumatic situation and your body begins to feel safe, it becomes aware that it is safe to be sick in the place you are now in. Another reason is because, well… Gaara gets sick a lot. And fluff. Who doesn’t want fluff?
> 
> Weird question but has anyone seen Magi?
> 
> We read all of your comments eventually!! Personally I cry when we get them XD. The eventually part is either because Wattpad is being difficult or I am in the middle of nowhere cause my family makes me disappear on the weekends.
> 
> This chapter could have been worse. Thankfully Shinji was there. (like always) “that would make more sense” Iwa admits... *begrudgingly throws crazy plan out the window*
> 
> Oh and Bakugou with the chains and muzzle. Chaining people up is wrong and cruel… even if they’re Bakugo -Shinji
> 
> If you are wondering why this AN is more put together and longer than usual it is because I keep forgetting things and I am writing it with Shinji instead of letting my crazy brain come up with random stuff.

Everything felt fuzzy. Gaara tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be stuck. He could feel something soft beneath him and he grabbed at it.

“Gaara?” a voice faintly could be heard somewhere near him. Gaara tried to open his mouth to respond but it also seemed to be stuck closed.

“Mph.” Gaara somehow managed, seeing as nothing else was working.

“Can you hear me?” the voice asked, or maybe it was a different voice, Gaara didn’t really know. Gaara ignored the voice for the time being and decided to see if any other part of his body was functional. This situation seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place why.

Gaara found out that he could move almost everything except his facial features, which was really annoying. Gaara felt a warm hand grab his own and the voice spoke up again.

“Can you squeeze your hand twice if you can hear me?” Gaara decided to entertain the voice and squeezed the voice’s hand twice. “Good, we were getting worried.” Why would the voice be worried? “Do you know where you are? Once for no, and twice for yes.” Gaara thought about it. Where was he? That seemed like something that he should know. Gaara squeezed his hand once.

“Do you remember the Sports Festival?” Gaara thought about it. The words sounded familiar but Gaara couldn’t connect the words to his swirling thoughts. Gaara squeezed once. “Ok. Do you know who I am?” Gaara concentrated but he couldn’t figure it out, so he squeezed his hand once again. “That’s ok. You were participating in the Sports Festival at UA High School when you got hurt. I am Recovery Girl and you are in my office. Your siblings are here, and your guardians will be back any second now.” Gaara was confused. He didn’t have guardians, he just had his father. Wait, that wasn’t right… he didn’t have a father? Who did he have then?

“ _You have Temari and Kankuro.”_ a voice supplied. That sounded right. Were they his guardians? “ _No. That would be Aizawa and Yamada.”_ Aizawa sounded safe… the only words that connected to Yamada were loud and obnoxious. Hold on, what was the voice inside his head? That didn’t seem like something that was normal. “ _It’s normal for you idiot, remember me? Shukaku? Been here since you were born?”_ Shukaku also felt safe, but this was different. Gaara didn’t understand what else the name made him feel. “ _Oh my goshhhh. Just get it together already!! This is so annoying. I would rather be stuck in your english class than deal with this. I think being stuck next to that blasty boy and Todoroki in the same room would be better than this… you know what? Let’s throw in Midoriya too. At least that would be interesting.”_ the self proclaimed Shukaku complained.

Todoroki. Stalker. His mind connected. Blasty boy, Bakugo… Midoriya, green... friend? With these connections, Gaara was able to remember.

Gaara sat up in a panic. “Wha-a” Gaara tried, mouth struggling to work, “Wha happen?” Gaara forced open his eyes, only to quickly shut them again because it was way too bright.

“What do you remember?” The voice he now recognises as Recovery Girl asked.

“Going… fight angry o-one. Black.” Gaara spit out. Recovery Girl sighed.

“Well at least your memory seems to be intact now. From what we understand, you were hit with a quirk that knocked you out… then… well it seems like your Tails quirk took over.” Recovery Girl said, hesitantly.

Gaara breathed in sharply as panic overtook him. He faintly heard Recovery Girl’s voice trying to calm him but he couldn’t focus past the roaring in his ears.

“ _Hey calm down kid, I didn’t kill anyone. YOU didn’t kill anyone. So calm down. This isn’t like last time, alright?”_ Shukaku comforted, “ _The tired man was there so he stopped us. Sorry I didn’t have control.”_ Gaara began to breathe normally again.

Gaara realized that he was not on anything soft anymore. He opened his eyes to find himself curled up in the corner of the room, Kankuro and Temari kneeling next to him. He blinked up at Recovery Girl.

“Good, you are back with us again.” Recovery Girl sighed, “Help him back into the bed, dears.” Temari and Kankuro followed the order.

“Hey Gaara.” Kankuro said gently, feeling like he had been saying that too often recently, “You did really amazing today, you know… omitting the part where you gave us a heart attack.” Temari lightly smacked Kankuro.

“Yes, you really did, we are so proud of you. However, I would like to know what possessed you to throw one of your only friends across a chasm.” Temari added. Gaara shrugged.

“He was talking too much. Besides we aren’t friends.”

“He seems like a friend. You sit next to him at lunch, you go out of your way to help him, he helps you…” Temari raised an eyebrow at him.

 _“Ooh~ She got you there!”_ Shukaku cackled. Gaara just frowned.

“I guess…” Gaara concluded after a moment of reflection. It wouldn’t be bad to have a friend again, right?

“Oh! I almost forgot! I got your phone from one of your classmates and it looks like you have messages!” Temari said excitedly.

“Your green haired friend was also here earlier. He had to go get arm surgery or something.” Kankuro added, “But don’t worry he assured that he would be alright.” A moment of silence passed before Kankuro continued, “And don’t worry about the boy that got hurt when that demon took you over.” Temari shot him a look that would have sent him six feet under.

Gaara started to panic again. “He is totally fine. I healed him up nicely. They are taking a break before the last match so it won’t even affect his performance.” Recovery Girl reassured him before either of the twins could get a word in edgewise.

“See?” Temari asked, moving to sit on the bed, “Nothing like last time, alright?” Gaara looked at her suspiciously before giving a slight nod.

Recovery Girl decided not to ask about what ‘last time’ meant, as it might very likely send the poor problem child into another panic attack.

“Aizawa and Yamada were called away, we are not totally sure when they will be back. We were also told that it should be ok for you to go and watch the final match if you would like. You don’t have to, of course, but you could see that Bakugo is perfectly healthy.” Kankuro suggested. Gaara gave a nod, glancing at Recovery Girl.

“That is fine with me, just let me know if anything happens that may be a result of the quirk you were hit with. From what I have observed, it just knocked you out for a while.” Recovery Girl warned, “Get some rest as well. And I said rest not sleep, so don’t you even try and argue with me.”

Gaara nodded in agreement and the twins helped him off of the bed and back out towards the stands. When he saw his sibling’s friends waving at them from their seats he turned around.

“Come on Gaara, let’s go sit down.” Kankuro grunted, forcibly turning Gaara back around and dragging him toward the seats.

“Hey Gaara! You were really good! Are you feeling better now?” Mirio asked brightly. Gaara sighed. He really didn’t want to deal with the boy’s personality today. Gaara gave a small nod and then the beast was upon him.

“Whoa! I didn’t know that your quirk could be used like that! You really threw that one boy. What was his name? I bet you would have won that match against the blond kid if that thing didn’t hit you. What do you think it was? What happened to you at the end? Was that an effect of the thing that hit you? It was kinda scary! You used that sand to-” Temari rushed over to cover Nejire’s mouth with her hand.

“No.” Temari commanded flatly. Nejire frowned when Gaara visibly flinched when she voiced her last question and she decided it was best to stop asking questions when Temari was in mom mode. Maybe she could ask Kankuro later… although he looked just as upset as Temari…

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Mirio suggested, “They just announced that the last match would begin in about fifteen minutes.” Kankuro shot him a grateful glance.

Gaara, seeing an open seat next to the quiet one, which was also not next to anyone else, moved forward and claimed it.

Gaara sat in the comfortable silence until the next match started. No one asked him anything or tried to strike up a conversation, which was very out of character for his siblings’ friends.

“ _Well your sis did sound pretty threatening earlier…”_ Shukaku mused. Gaara rolled his eyes at him as Bakugo and Todoroki walked into their respective ends of the stadium. Gaara slightly relaxed when he realized that everyone was being truthful to him about Bakugo’s condition. Shukaku laughed in glee.

“ _I’m upset that someone had to interrupt our fight with the explodo boy so we didn’t even get the chance to fight him… but this will be a sight to see.”_ Shukaku smiled, creepily. Gaara rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat. Suddenly, he had a thought.

“ _No! Don’t you dare Gaara. I swear-”_ Shuakau warned as Gaara shut his eyes. _“I want to watch this!! Seriously!!”_ Gaara smirked, unknowingly getting strange looks from the people around him.

Midnight voiced for the fight to start and Shukaku never stopped protesting. As Nedzu started to commentate, however, he begrudgingly accepted his fate. He did push something he shouldn't have earlier, so the least he could do was let Gaara have this.

“ _Well at least I can still infer what is happening through the weird one.”_ Shukaku sighed. Gaara’s grin grew more evil. He drew up the sand that he still had on his person and turned them into makeshift earplugs. “ _Gaara I swear!! Remove those right now and open your eyes or I will find a way to destroy that blanket that you seem to like so much!!”_

Threat 100% effective. Gaara immediately opened his eyes and unplugged his ears. “ _I wouldn’t actually destroy that blanket, you know…”_ Shukaku winced, trying to run damage control, “ _You are far too attached to that thing for your own good.”_ Gaara narrowed his eyes, not noticing how the twins’ friends were getting whiplash because of his constantly changing moods.

By the time that Gaara and Shukaku were done fighting, Bakugo seemingly had the upper hand but was yelling angrily at Todoroki. In retrospect, Bakugo had most likely been yelling the entire match… and throughout his past matches… actually has he ever stopped yelling?

Bakugo angrily sent an explosion at Todoroki’s left side, who was looking worse for wear and possibly developing hypothermia. Todoroki feebly tried to block the blast with ice, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from being knocked backward and out of the ring.

Bakugo screamed something about fire and then made a move forward but his goal was interrupted by Midnight who said something to him, causing Bakugo to angrily stomp out of the stadium instead.

Midnight helped Todoroki up and spoke to him as well, and he headed off in the direction where Recovery Girl was located. Gaara felt a weird twinge as he saw Todoroki walk away.

Gaara sorted through the emotions that he knew of. Was this… disappointment? Gaara guessed it must be, and that he just really didn’t like Bakugo… although he didn’t like Todoroki that much either right? Maybe he related? He didn’t like his father, Gaara didn’t like his either… but Gaara had new fathers right? They were not friends… unless stalking someone’s every move counted as friendship. Gaara was new to emotions but he should be able to figure this out, right? 

“ _Uhg. I forgot how stunted you are. I think this could be considered a gay panic for you… congratulations.”_ Shukaku groaned out.

There was that word again… Gaara considered asking Shukaku but he really didn’t want to be teased for being unaware of things again.

Shukaku rolled his eyes. He had considered enlightening Gaara, but it would be better if he let this blow up later. He grinned manically at the thought of it.

“In about thirty minutes, could Bakugo Katsuki, Todoroki Shoto, and Gaara all come down to the field for the award ceremony?” Nezu asked to the stands. Gaara sighed and sunk further into his seat.

“Is that even a good idea to bring Gaara out into the public sight again?” Kankuro asked the group, “Like I understand that being in the stands is safe and the attacker most likely has left…”

“But it still could be dangerous and no one understands what happened to Gaara when he was hit.” Temari finished. Mirio frowned then gave a comforting smile.

“I am sure that the school wouldn’t let him down there if they were unsure of his safety.” Mirio assured. Nejire jumped on the chance.

“You know… speaking of not understanding Gaara’s little thing that happened....” Nejire tried while the subject had been brought up.

“No.” Kankuro and Temari said in unison.

“Ok then. Glad we had that talk.” Nejire nodded, dropping the subject yet again.

Twenty minutes passed while the group, excluding Gaara, made small talk. Gaara decided to ignore the pinging his phone was making and deal with it after the current mess he was in. He was definitely not in the mood to deal with anyone right now.

“Gaara, I think it is time we head down to the entrance to the stadium now, don’t ya think?” Kankuro asked.

“No.” Gaara stated firmly.

“And of course we will be going with you, we have to protect our baby bro of course- wait.” Temari stopped, “Did you say no?”

“Yes.” Gaara replied, determined.

“What do you mean, no?” Temari asked, voice low.

“I don’t want to. There is no reason for me to go out there. I was only asked to do my best to get to see the cats.”

“Which cats?” Kankuro asked, confused. Gaara looked at him like he was insane.

“All of them.” Gaara said wistfully.

“Well I tell you what. If you go out there and receive your metal, then I will somehow get you another blanket.” Temari thought for a second, “Maybe two if you go right now.”

“Oooh, if you go I will also get you a blanket!” Nejire said, excitedly.

“Blankets are very nice.” Tamaki said, nodding.

“I want in as well!!” Mirio cheered. Gaara thought about it. It wasn’t a hard decision. Blankets were soft. Gaara got up from his seat determined and floated down to the stadium floor, the bewildered group yelling after him while Kankuro and Temari anxiously hurried to join him.

Temari and Kankuro made it down to the opening to the field just as Todoroki and Bakugo were headed out to join the eager Gaara.

“Stupid panda-freak, showing off jumping into the stadium like that. I didn’t even get to fight the idiot.” Bakugo grumbled, kicking the dirt. Temari grabbed Kankuro before he did something stupid to the kid. She also did this so she wouldn’t attack the unknowing student.

“Hey!” Temari growled, catching the attention of the two place-holders, “Number one. Gaara was not ‘showing off’. He only jumped onto the field like that because he had to be bribed with blankets to even consider going out there. Number two. Gaara is not an idiot. He learns things at impeccable rates and he is a genius. Number three. Gaara was attacked, that is why he didn’t fight you. In no way was that his fault. Besides, he would have won against you anyway, he has only shown you a glimpse of his power. He could kill you all in a heartbeat, you’re lucky he has control over his demon.” Kankuro elbowed Temari as hard as he could over that last sentence.

“She meant quirk. Yup. Nothing to see here, bye bye now!” Kankuro waved the students on and he received a jab in return.

“Woooowwww, you hit me for once.” Temari marvled, “But what was that ‘cover up’? That was the weakest thing I have ever heard.”

“You know I don’t think on the fly!” Kankuro protested, “That is your job!” Temari started mumbling angrily as the ceremony started.

As soon as All Might put the medal around Gaara’s neck, he had to be dragged back when he darted off, wanting to get his blankets and cat cafe rewards.

Todoroki accepted his medal without any problems but as All Might stood in front of Bakugo the microphone picked up his voice.

“No. I will not accept this. The third place panda-face I didn’t even fight and the half and half bastard let me win. This is an insult to me.” With that said, Bakugo grabbed the medal, dropped it in front of All Might, and walked out of the stadium.

To put it mildly, everyone who was watching was shocked.

“Um… the first year festival was certainly eventful this year! Give a hand to all of our participants and the place-holders!” All Might cheered, and everyone eventually followed his lead.

“ _That boy’s got spunk. I don’t like the kid but… I will give him that!”_ Shukaku nodded firmly. Gaara rolled his eyes and practically skipped out of the stadium, giving poor Todoroki heart palpitations.

‘ _Who the heck is this boy?’_ Todoroki asked himself, staring after Gaara.


	53. Chapter 50 ~ All my friends are dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!!!!!!!! 50 chapters!!!! We would like to thank you all yet again. We know that our writing gets a little crazy... ok a lot crazy... and the fact that you are reading this anyways is amazing! We do our best to keep everything consistent and put together as possible, but sometimes ( a lot of times) we make mistakes. Thank you for just going with it. Thank you all for everything. This means so much to us. 
> 
> They talk about sexuality and gender identities, and we tried to make it as accurate as possible and not make mistakes! We didn't want to write it all out, but it wouldn't have made sense if we didn't. If your identity is not included do not worry!! We did not exclude anyone on purpose, everyone is unique and different and completely valid!! 
> 
> Stay safe everyone!!!!!!!!

“Sorry that we were not in Recovery Girl’s office when you woke up! How are you feeling?” Yamada apologized. Gaara shrugged. He felt like normal: Tired and done with all the people around him. 

Gaara had met up with Temari and Kankuro in the entrance, and went to go find Yamada and Aizawa. The couple had been waiting for them by the press box, and had informed them of this by text after the siblings had already spent twenty minutes searching. 

“It’s fine. You were busy.” Gaara dismissed, confused when his words made Yamada flinch. 

“Still we should be there to make sure you are safe, we are going to be your parents soon.” Yamada explained, “We want to take care of you because we  _ care  _ about you!” Temari and Kankuro ducked their heads.

“We care about you too, I guess.” Kankuro mumbled, blushing. Temari rolled her eyes.

“Such a Tsundere. Thank you guys so much, you guys have been nothing but kind since we came to live with you.”

“Aw, you guys are just the best!” Yamada crooned, “We are just trying to be what you guys deserve, right Sho?” Aizawa grunted in agreement.

“Now can we go home, it has been a real-” 

“Ooh, what is this I hear?” a voice came from the now open door of the booth, “You didn’t inform me of this development Aizawa, Yamada.” The group turned to see the principal grinning maniacally from the doorway. 

“And?” Aizawa grunted. 

“Now you both just have to join me for tea next week! I can’t wait to hear about this.” Nezu exclaimed.

“Fine. We are going home now.” Aizawa grabbed his husband’s hand and started dragging him down the path in the direction of the car. The siblings hurriedly followed the couple after bowing to Principal Nezu.

“Shoooota!” Yamada yelped, “We talked about your manners!” Aizawa ignored him and kept dragging the poor man. 

“It’s quite alright!” Nezu called after them, “Just make sure you show up next week for tea!!” Yamada gave him a wave and a smile and finally broke free of Aizawa. 

It was only after they were in the car that they all started talking again, Aizawa having been so determined to get there without further hindrances. 

"Gaara you did amazing! Despite the obstacle course. You definitely could have won that. And what was with throwing the poor purple kid? You did very well with the cavalry battle, but that was nothing compared to the one on one fights! It was like we saw a whole new side of you! Did someone challenge you or something? Who lit a fire under your butt?" Yamada spouted and Aizawa winced. This did not go unnoticed by Yamada.

"Shinso was loud." Gaara repeated. Yamada looked mortified.

"Remind me never to let you carry me… and Shota. What did you do?"

"I may have bribed him with a cat cafe…" Aizawa mumbled. Yamada let out a betrayed gasp. 

"You bribed our kid?! Sho!" 

"What? It worked, didn't it?" Aizawa shrugged. 

"I guess so… but still!" Yamada huffed. The twins were cackling while Gaara just sat hopefully.

"If we are on the subject of bribing Gaara, we kinda had to do it to get him to accept his medal." Kankuro grinned. Yamada gasped again.

"What did you bribe him with?" Yamada asked, suspiciously.

"With blankets! Now all our friends are getting him them!" Kankuro laughed.

"You should have seen it, he floated right down to the field after that." Temari chucked. Gaara turned so that he was facing away from them all. 

"Well I guess we know what he is motivated by…" Yamada snorted.  **_(Yup. Fluffy things. Spoil the bean.)_ **

**** Gaara felt very attacked, and all he was doing was sitting in the car. It wasn’t like it was a crime to like fluffy things. 

“Well, he definitely earned that trip to the cat cafe then.” Yamada reflected, and Aizawa nodded in agreement. 

When they had pulled into the driveway of the home, Gaara was disappointed that he was not going to the cat cafe right that moment, but instead had to wait till another day. 

Gaara was sent to his room to ‘rest’ the second that they passed through the threshold. He plopped down on his bed in a very unceremonial manner and changed out of his school uniform. 

After removing his phone from his pocket, he stared at it accusingly. 

“ _ Relax! They just said that you had a few messages, it’s not a big deal. If you don’t answer them, it will just turn into a mess when you see them later at school.”  _ Shukaku rolled his eyes. With Shukaku’s advice, Gaara grabbed his phone and opened the first messages.

Unknown Number [that one day he got Gaara’s number]: Hey. Your sister gave me your number today.

Unknown Number [that one day he got Gaara’s number]: I guess you don’t want to talk then. Understandable.

Unknown Number [4:20 pm]: Hey, I saw what happened in your fight with that angry idiot. Are you alright?

Gaara [6:00 pm]: I’m fine.

“ _ At least say thank you or something!” _ Shukaku groaned.

Gaara [6:00 pm]: Thanks.

_ Unknown Number changed their name to Projectile  _

Projectile [6:01 pm]: That’s good. Did they figure anything out yet?

Gaara [6:01 pm]: Not that I know of; although I don’t know if they would tell me anything.

Projectile [6:01 pm]: True.

Projectile [6:02 pm]: Watching you fight was interesting. Too bad I got taken out in the first round.

Gaara [6:02 pm]: against Midoriya. 

Projectile [6:03 pm]: Yeah, he somehow got out of my control… now I am really sure that I need to work out more. I am so behind in physical abilities.

Gaara [6:03 pm]: I am as well. Aizawa is helping me get better.

Projectile [6:03 pm]: Well he would, I mean it is kinda his job, you are in his homeroom, and a hero course so…

Gaara [6:04 pm]: No. Outside of class. At night. Will you get into the hero course now? 

Projectile [6:05 pm]: How did you convince him to do that!? I wish I could train like that. And who knows, I doubt it though, I didn’t do much to get recognized.

Gaara [6:05 pm]: I just asked. You could ask. You seemed to do well to me.

Projectile [6:06 pm]: I wish. He is Eraserhead! He’s kinda scary… and thanks.

Gaara [6:10 pm]: Sorry, had to feed Floof. I could ask then.

Projectile [6:11 pm]: Floof? (Shinso is so concerned about ‘Floof’ that he misses the other part of Gaara’s text) 

Gaara [6:11 pm]: The kitten that is mine? I think? My new parents? Got her for me.

Projectile [6:12 pm]: I have so many questions because of that text alone. But the most important thing is. You have a cat. And you did not tell me. And I thought that maybe I had made a friend.

Projectile [6:12 pm]: um unless you didn’t want to be friends? I dunno, I could be misreading this whole thing… I kinda don’t have much experience in the whole friends area.

Gaara [6:13 pm]: I don’t have a lot of experience either. I think we are friends? And I actually live with four cats.

Projectile [6:15 pm]: That would be great? I think? AND HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL MEEEEEE!! I demand pictures.

Gaara [6:15 pm]: Ok. And I don’t know how to take pictures. I will ask my sister after dinner.

Projectile [6:16 pm]: Alright I shall be waiting.

“ _ Well, congratulations. You have officially acquired a friend. Although he seems to be just as much as a loser as you.”  _ Shukaku clapped, and Gaara glared at his wall in annoyance. He moved on to the next number in his messages.

Unknown Number [5:00 pm]: Hello!! This is Midoryia, I hope you don’t mind that your sister gave me your phone number. Just wanted to make sure that you are alright! I got out of surgery a bit ago, I am using the voice to text option. It is really handy!! Not that I can use my hands right now. 

Gaara [6:18 pm]: I am fine, thanks. Just got home a little while ago. What happened to your hands?

Unknown Number [6:20 pm]: That’s great!! Well, my fight with Todoroki didn’t end well for my arms, so I had to have surgery to repair them. Recovery Girl said that I will be back to normal on Monday!

Unknown Number [6:20 pm]: Well kinda normal. I have to be careful with my arms from now on. 

Gaara [6:21 pm]: Oh. 

“ _ Tell him you hope he gets better soon!”  _ Shukaku urged Gaara, who stopped texting to glare at the wall again, “ _ What? You seem to be adamant to ignore my advice to not have ‘friends’ so I might as well try and help you so you don’t sulk for months because you drove them all away.” _

Gaara [6:23 pm]: Feel better soon.

Unknown Number [6:24 pm]: Thanks! See you soon!

_ Unknown Number changed their name to Midoriya _

Gaara [6:24 pm]: See you soon.

“Gaara!!!” Temari called from downstairs, with a volume that could rival Yamada’s with his quirk, “It’s time for dinner!” Gaara sighed and tossed his phone towards his pillow.

After dinner and the clean up afterward, Gaara approached Temari. 

“Can you do something for me?” Gaara asked. Temari turned to look at him in surprise.

“Of course!! You can always ask me anything! That’s what I am here for!” Gaara thinks for a moment back to a previous thought he had that day. 

“What is gay?” Gaara blurted out. Everything was quiet for a second as Temari processed what Gaara had just said. In the kitchen, Yamada had been grumbling that if Aizawa drank coffee at this time of night he wouldn’t be able to sleep. Aizawa spit out his coffee and started coughing and they both turned to stare at Gaara. 

After a minute of them all just standing there, they all realized that Gaara was expecting an answer and really didn’t know. “Gaara, how bout we go and sit down in the kitchen, this may take a while.” Temari said finally. Gaara nodded confused and moved to go and sit back down.

“Want us to sit too?” Yamada asked, gesturing at the table. Temari shot him a grateful smile and nodded. Once all four of them were seated, Aizawa opened his mouth to start explaining sexuality, arguably for the second time that day.

“Hey guys, do you know where the wood glue wennnnnnnn” Kankuro walked into the kitchen, question forgotten, “Hey! Are you guys having a family discussion without me?” Kankuro huffed, betrayed.

“It just kinda came up? It’s not exactly a family discussion?” Yamada tried. Kankuro still looked very upset.

“Well what about?” Kankuro asked.

“Gaara asked what it means to be gay, and we are just going to explain it to him.” Aizawa informed. Kankuro burst out laughing.

“This is why Gaara doesn’t ask you anything.” Temari said sharply. Kankuro stopped laughing,

“Wait, you guys are serious?” Kankuro asked, and they nodded, Gaara looking confused, “Oh, sorry Gaara. Can I sit down with you guys?” Everyone nodded and Kankuro took his spot next to Temari.

**_(Now how to make this not cringy and extremely awkward for everyone to read… when both of us are extremely cringy and awkward… don’t attack us? We tried.)_ **

“Good. Now, gay is an adjective that describes someone’s sexuality. Your sexualitly is the people that you are attracted to, or want to have some sort of special bond with. Being gay is men liking other men, but it has been used as a general term before as well.” Aizawa started, looking to Gaara to make sure that he understood so far.

“So you and Yamada are gay?” Gaara asked. 

“Hizashi is gay, yes, we can get into my sexuality later.” Aizawa answered, “Other people are only attracted to the gender opposite to them, which is known as straight. If a person identifies as lesbian, she is a women who is atracted to other women. If you are bisexual, you usually like at least two genders.”

“At least two genders?” Gaara interrupted. Aizawa sighed.

“When you are born, you are given a gender, but that doesn’t mean that person really is that gender. If a person is, then they are called cisgender. If they find out they are male instead of female and transition over, they are transgender. There are others that realize that they don’t identify with either gender and they are non-bianary. There is also gender fluidity, where a person’s gender identity shifts. A lot of people just try and find who they are, and it may not be a specific label, everyone is unique and our identities reflect that!” Yamada explains, cheerfully. 

“Due to these different gender identities and a person’s preferences being unique, sexuality can also get complicated when you try and label it. However, I will continue explaining anyways. Pansexual is when you are atracted to a person for being a person. Make sense?” Aizawa asked, getting a nod from Gaara and the twins.

“Now there is Asexual. Asexual is not being sexually attracted to others, but this doesn’t mean you are not or cannot be in a relationship. There are a lot of variants depending on a person, they decide what feels right to them. People that identify as aromantic do not want to be in a romantic relationship at all. I am demisexual, which means that I am not sexually attracted to anyone unless I have already established an emotional bond with someone.” Aizawa said and Yamada let out a laugh.

“I didn’t know his sexuality and combined with his personality, I thought he hated me.” Yamada joked. 

“Anyways, people who are not one gender have other terms for their sexuality, which we can go over if any of you ever have questions or are just curious. I don’t know much about the terms to be honest, the little I do know is because of me trying to figure out my own sexuality. There are also people that are only attracted to non-bianary or other genders.” Aizawa concluded.

“Don’t feel the need to put a label on yourself! Unless you want one, then we would gladly help you figure it out, ok? We will care about you no matter what!!” Yamada adds, “Oh, you don’t have to tell us… we aren’t even your official guardians, and you haven’t known us very long at all so-” Temari cut Yamada off.

“Thank you for offering to be there for us. I don’t think I speak only for myself when I say that you two have been more of our parents than our actual dad was since-” Temari cut herself off, “for a while.” she finished. Yamada teared up.

“Group hug!!” He announced, pulling everyone in for at least three minutes. 

Gaara looked back up at his room now being enlightened with a lot to think about, and remembered Shinso. 

“Can I ask you something, Aizawa?” Gaara asked.

“Besides what you already are asking?” Gaara nodded, “Go ahead then.” Aizawa sighed, hoping it didn’t cause them to go into another thirty minute long discussion.

“Will you train Shinso?” Gaara inquired, and Aizawa looked at him in surprise.

“Wasn’t that the kid that you threw across the stadium?” Yamada asked, and Gaara nodded again.

“Why are you asking?” Aizawa responded.

“He mentioned that he needed to work on his physical abilities and I said I needed to as well. I told him that I was training and that he should ask you as well, but he refused, so I told him I would ask for him.” Gaara explained, “I am now unsure if he saw it… since he never said anything about it…” Aizawa sighed and put his head in his hands.

“To be honest, I had my eye on him already. He is one of the better of the General Studies class and actually has potential.” Aizawa thought about it before continuing, “Tell him he can join us when we begin training again, but for now I am going to go to bed.” Aizawa declared, marching up the stairs with his cup of coffee. Yamada sighed and followed him up after giving the three siblings a hug.

Gaara was also going to go upstairs when he remembered what he meant to ask earlier. “Can you help me take a picture of the cats? I don’t know how and my… friend. Wants a picture. I meant to ask after dinner but the wrong words came out.” Temari looked at him with glee.

“Of course!! Let’s grab the cats and head upstairs so Floof can be in the picture too!” Temari declared. 

Turns out that they did not need to grab the cats as the cats had realized everyone was headed to bed, so they were already on their way. The second Gaara sat on his bed, three of the cats joined him, and Temari placed Floof up with him. 

Temari grabbed his phone, “Smile!!” she said, and a click was heard. She handed the phone back to Gaara and showed him how to take pictures and also how to send them. The twins said goodnight and left Gaara alone, well as alone as you could get with four cats.

Gaara [8:11 pm]:  _ attachment _

Projectile [8:12 pm]: You were not joking when you said you had four cats. They seem to be very obsessed with you. I need names. 

_ Projectile changed Gaara’s name to Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) _

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:13 pm]: Swirls is the grey one, Mustachio is the black and white, Ink is the all black one, and Floof is orange.

Projectile [8:14 pm]: Those are very interesting names. 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:14 pm]: I agree. 

Projectile [8:15 pm]: They are so adorable, I love cats so much, I wish I had one.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:16 pm]: Why not? Cats are fluffy. 

Projectile [8:17 pm]: I am not allowed to have any pets here. I am guessing you are responsible for the name of Floof?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:17 pm]: yes. Why aren’t you allowed to have pets? 

Projectile [8:18 pm]: Foster parents said no. 

Projectile [8:18 pm]: I guess it is adorable…

What are foster parents?

Projectile [8:20 pm]: Seriously?

Projectile [8:24 pm]: I guess you are. Foster parents are when you are taken away from your original parents and you are put into a system that gives you to other people. These people are now your foster parents. 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:24 pm]: Why?

Projectile [8:25 pm]: the original parents are usually declared unfit by the government and child protective services. 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:26 pm]: oh. My parents are dead. Does that make them unfit? 

Projectile [8:28 pm]: uhhh… 

Projectile [8:28 pm]: not necessarily? That just means that they are dead, I guess. Wait, then you don’t call your current guardians your parents? Are you in foster care? 

Projectile [8:29 pm]: wait you wouldn’t if you didn’t know what that meant.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:30 pm]: No. My father was murdered trying to murder me and now my siblings and I have been living with Aizawa and Yamada who are adopting us? 

Projectile [8:32 pm]: That.

Projectile [8:32 pm]: Um. That’s rough. But kinda relatable? 

Projectile [8:32 pm]: Wait. Aizawa as in Eraserhead? As in class 1-a homeroom teacher? As in like the scary person that hates everyone and everything????? Who is Yamada? 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:33 pm]: The man that is always extremely loud?

Projectile [8:33 pm]: That’s not very helpful.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:33 pm]: The one with blond hair? Aizawa’s husband? 

Projectile [8:34 pm]: AIZAWA HAS A HUSBAND?!

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:35 pm]: I don’t understand why everyone is surprised by this. 

Projectile [8:35 pm]: He is the literal embodiment of ‘don’t speak to me’ 

Projectile [8:35 pm]: Wait.

Projectile [8:35 pm]: Loud, blond and male… are you talking about Present Mic???

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:35 pm]: Yes.

Projectile [8:36 pm]: 1. You could have just led with that. 2. AHHHHHHHHHH 3. Ok that makes sense… even if they are literal opposites of each other

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:36 pm]: yes. One is nice and quiet and the other is really annoying. 

Projectile [8:37 pm]: You really don’t like people being loud, do you?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:37 pm]: No. Makes my head hurt. There is no need for them to be that loud in the first place. 

Projectile [8:38 pm]: How long have you been living with them?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:39 pm]: Since school started. 

Projectile [8:40 pm]: Do you like being there?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:40 pm]: They have cats. And blankets. I like it.

Projectile [8:40 pm]: What is it with you and soft things????

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:40 pm]: I like them.

Projectile [8:40 pm]: Nvm. 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:40 pm]: Aizawa said he would train you. Next time we train you can come with us.

Projectile [8:43 pm]: Hold up.

Projectile [8:43 pm]: Um… I didn’t ask???????????

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:43 pm]: I offered to ask for you, getting no response, I just decided to do it.

Projectile [8:45 pm]: YOU DISTRACTED ME

Projectile [8:45 pm]: whyyyyyyyyyy

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:46 pm]: I asked because you wanted to train? I didn’t distract you, I just answered your question.

Projectile [8:46 pm]: … 

Projectile [8:46 pm]: I guess this isn’t so bad.

Projectile [8:46 pm]: Wait! I lieddd!!! This is Eraserhead!! Like my favorite hero! This is not good. Not good at all.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:47 pm]: Why wouldn't it be good? 

Projectile [8:48 pm]: my idol is going to see how much I am a failureeeee 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:49 pm]: He said you had potential? I don’t think that is a failure?   
  


Projectile [8:50 pm]: I

Projectile [8:50 pm]: Think I can die happy now. Goodbye.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:51 pm]: I don’t think this is something to die over.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:51 pm]: Don’t die.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:53 pm]: I shouldn’t have friends. 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:55 pm]: Shukaku was right.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:59 pm]: They die.

**_Midoriya_ **

Gaara [9:10 pm]: We can’t be friends.

Midoriya [9:11 pm]: Did I do something wrong????

Gaara [9:11 pm]: No. All my friends die. 

Midoriya [9:11 pm]: Did something happen???

**_Projectile_ **

Projectile [9:12 pm]: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Projectile [9:12 pm]: I’m alive… I just took a shower. I have so many questions rn.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:13 pm]: Oh. But you said you could die.

Projectile [9:13 pm]: It’s an expression. I was happy, so I was expressing it… sorry?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:13 pm]: Oh.

**_Midoriya_ **

Gaara [9:14 pm]: I think we can be friends now. No one else has died.

Midoriya [9:15 pm]: Uhhhh… ok then.

Midoriya [9:15 pm]: Does this mean we are friends?

Gaara [9:16 pm]: Ok.

Midoriya [9:16 pm]: Yay!! I wish I could type emojis right now!! I will make sure to do my best to not die, ok! And if you need to talk or whatever, I am here!!! 

Gaara [9:17 pm]: Thank you. 

**_(Meanwhile, Mido was previously having a heart attack and possibly panic attack, and Shukaku has been laughing this whhoooolllleeee time)_ **

**_Projectile_ **

Projectile [9:15 pm]: Who is Shukaku?

Projectile [9:16 pm]: This reminds me. I was supposed to ask about your multiple quirks!!

Projectile [9:17 pm]: Hey! Don’t run away! 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:18 pm]: We are still friends right?

Projectile [9:18 pm]: Uhhh yeah?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:18 pm]: Ok good. Don’t die.

Projectile [9:19 pm]: Don’t plan on it? At least not until I get my answers.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:20 pm]: Shukaku is the beast that lives inside of me.

“ _ Rude!!”  _ Shukaku said, wounded.

Projectile [9:20 pm]: Right. So like you have an identity disorder?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:21 pm]: No? Shukaku has always been inside me, he is my other quirk. 

Projectile [9:22 pm]: Can you clarify??   
  


Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:23 pm]: They call him Tails. Apparently others have similar quirks so everyone with it is given this title. This is all I know about it. My father didn’t want me to know about anything that was related, well anything at all. Shukaku can take over my will. He did it at the sports festival when I was knocked out. He is why I was placed with Aizawa at first. I think it is different now? They wanted to watch us. 

Projectile [9:24 pm]: Oof. That is one more thing we have in common.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:25 pm]: What?

Projectile [9:25 pm]: We both have villainous quirks.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:26 pm]: Shukaku isn’t evil. I think. And your quirk definitely is not evil.

Projectile [9:27 pm]: Oh. Thank you. 

Projectile [9:27 pm]: Well society believes our quirks are evil anyways.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:28 pm]: That is true. 

Projectile [9:28 pm]: Thank you for sharing that with me, I appreciate you being honest.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:29 pm]: Why wouldn’t I?   
  


Projectile [9:29 pm]: nvm

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:30 pm]: Ok.

Gaara and Shinso continued to text until five in the morning when Shinso had to go before his foster parents found him on his phone. 

Gaara sat with the cats until he was being called for breakfast. Everyone except Yamada was having cereal, who was having oatmeal. Gaara grabbed a granola bar out of the cabinet, and Yamada looked at him disapprovingly.

“That’s all you are going to eat?” Yamada asked, glaring at the granola bar much in the same way that Gaara had glared at the wall earlier. Gaara nodded and received a sigh in return. “Fine.” he grumbled, and muttered something about Aizawa and how his bad habits were rubbing off. 

“Hey Gaara?” Aizawa called out across the table. Gaara looked up at him, “I know that we didn’t tell you or talk about this beforehand, so we understand if you don’t want to go, but we had made you a therapy appointment for today. We think it would be beneficial for you if you were to go.”

“Therapy?” Gaara inquired.

“Ya know, they just talk to you about stuff and try to help you through your emotions.” Kankuro supplied. 

“Oh.” Gaara blinked.

“You could try it as well. Just go to one or maybe two appointments and see how you feel about it.” Aizawa informed, glancing over at his husband, “Both Hizashi and I have had a therapist multiple times in our lives. It can help work you through experiences and dealing with certain situations. Thinking about it now, Kankuro, Temari, if you want to talk with someone just let us know.” Temari’s face turned thoughtful.

“We will think about it.” Temari stated, sending a look to Kankro that promised a discussion. 

“Ok.” Gaara said softly, surprising everyone in the room.

“That’s good, little listener.” Yamada smiled at him brightly, “It is at two, so you have some time before then.”

“Speaking of time…” Kankuro began, “Our sports festival is tomorrow… could we go with our friends to train?”

“You all have your provisional licenses, correct?” Aizawa asked.

“Yup!” The twins chorused.

“Then I see no problem with it.” The twins grinned and ran up the stairs to grab the various things that they needed and soon they were out the door.

Time passed quickly and soon they were headed to UA campus where the therapist’s office was. There was a lot of traffic because of the second years’ sports festival so they were almost late by the time they walked into the building. 

“Ok Gaara.” Yamada said, “We will get you checked in and then we can either come with you or wait in the waiting room, it is your decision ok?” Gaara nodded.

“I don’t care.”

“How about you go in by yourself, and if you need us you can come and get us, how does that sound?” Yamada inquired. 

“Ok.” Gaara dismissed. 

It took a few minutes but Gaara was soon called back to see the therapist. As he opened the door his eyes widened in shock.

“Fluffy.” He declared. 


	54. Chapter 51 ~ Couples Therapy, Cats, Feelings and Hugs.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara becomes convinced cats solve everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!!! So like... was this supposed to be fluff with a little bit of revealing... yes... was Nemuri supposed to get involved? No. Did the characters develop their own agenda? Yes..... So like now you will all know parts and pieces of things! Of course not everything, because no single character knows all the details or maybe they don't want to reveal certain things.... hmmm.... 
> 
> Any Questions? Yes? Good. Us too. No? never mind then...
> 
> btw we do not like read this over before we publish because it is like early morning hours when we are writing... and we are lazy...

The dog-like person let out a laugh. 

“Well that’s a first. You must be Kazekage. I am Inui Ryo, better known as Hound Dog.” the dog person said. Gaara flinched. “Is there something wrong?”

“Gaara.” the boy said. Inui blinked.

“Alrighty Gaara, why don’t you sit down and get comfortable. You can call me Ryo if you would like.” Ryo smiled. Gaara turned around and eyed the small sofa behind him, before finally sitting down. 

“Squishy.” the boy stated. 

“Yes! I love that couch! I loved it so much when I moved into this office that I ordered one for my own home!” Fluffy said cheerfully, “So, how are you today?” 

Gaara thought for a minute before answering, “Fine.” Fluffy grinned. 

“That’s good. I saw you at the sports festival yesterday, you did really well. How do you feel about it though?” Fluffy asked him. Gaara was surprised.

“Fine.” Gaara shrugged. 

“I know about your quirk, well both of them, so feel free to talk about anything. I am not allowed to repeat or share anything I hear in this room, not that I would anyways, unless I think you are in danger.” Fluffy informed Gaara, who just looked at him confused. “Also, the first day is usually just paperwork, but I thought we could get to know each other first.”

“ _ How many people know about me?”  _ Shukaku wondered, “ _ Am I a celebrity?” _

__ “ _ Does it really matter?”  _ Gaara asked.

“ _ Well of course! I want to be famous!”  _ Shukaku said indignantly.

“Whatever.” Gaara mumbled causing Ryo to nod. 

“Ok then. Is there anything you would like to know about me?” Fluffy inquired. Gaara looked at him confused.

“What?” 

“You said whatever, so I thought you were up to getting to know each other.” Fluffy said, “Is that not the case?”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Gaara informed.

“Oh, who were you talking to then?” Fluffy asked.  **_(assuming the same thing Shinso was XD)_ **

“Shukaku. He is being annoying.” Gaara stated. 

“ _ Hey!”  _ Shukaku cried out.

“Shukaku?” Fluffy inquired.

“Yes. My quirk.” Gaara explained for the second time in two days. 

“Oh so the demon that is your quirk has a name?”

“ _ HEY! Who you calling a demon!? I mean the twins do, but they are justified. You however, you have NO right!”  _ Shukaku shouted.

“He doesn’t like being called that. He really isn’t bad. I think.” Gaara informed him.

“Oh. Sorry about that. How bout I get to know more about the both of you and you can ask me anything you would like.” Fluffy told them.

“ _ Hmph. Who says I want you to know about me huh?”  _ Shukaku muttered.

“Stop being snappy. That is a lie. Your favorite thing to do is talk about yourself.” Gaara snapped.

“ _ Hey! Not true! My favorite thing to do is crush the bones of my enemiesssss.” _

“Well do you talk back to him? He may be just looking for someone to talk to? I would be bored if I didn’t have people to talk to.” Fluffy supplied.

“I do talk to him. Although he gets extremely annoying. Also, how do you know that is your favorite thing? You have never done that in your life.” Gaara stated.

“That’s good. At least you both always have each other. Do you train with Shukaku? I mean, like use your Tails quirk?” Fluffy questioned.

“No. Shukaku is dangerous.”

“How is he dangerous?”

“If he is in control, I have none. He attacks everyone and everything in sight.” 

“ _ Heyyyyy”  _

__ “So how is he not bad?”

“Weirdly, he seems to like me. Also, sometimes if he is in control, he isn’t.” Gaara blinked.

“ _ I do NOT like you.”  _

“What do you mean by that?” Gaara frowned.

“If I am in danger, and I come back to my body after he takes over, the things he says are like he couldn’t control his own actions.”

“Do you ever talk about this with him?”

“ _ Hey! That sounds like something I have suggested! Talking about us! Do you ever? No!” _

__ “I guess not.” Gaara shrugged. 

“It sounds like you two really should talk this out. What about the other times he takes you over?” Gaara thought about it.   
  


“He just acts like his normal, annoying self.” Gaara informed him, “I guess I do use his energy, he gives me energy but then he also prevents me from sleeping.”

“Ok, how about you two start talking. I really can’t help you figure anything out about actually using your quirk together, but I really think that you two need to talk.” Fluffy determined and Gaara scowled, “So while you do that, I am going to go talk with Yamada and Aizawa in another room!” 

“Fine.” Gaara sighed.

“ _ About time. All it took was a therapist.” _ Shukaku rolled his eyes, “ _ I offer an olive branch by telling you about Tails and our bond? At least what I know.”  _

__ “You know things that I don’t?” Gaara accused.

“ _ Well you haven’t been that willing to talk to me, besides, it was more amusing to keep you in the dark.”  _

__ “How?”

“ _ Well you see, I have been able to understand everything that was going on and said since we were born, besides, I am in your head, I have to experiment! What else am I going to do? Play poker?” _

__ “Ok.” Gaara relented, “We can talk.” 

“ _ Good. So. This is going to bring up some touchy memories… I guess that is also another reason that I haven’t talked about it with you… not that I care or anything… is that still ok?” _

__ “It’s fine.” Gaara murmured, messing with the couch.

“ _ Alright. You already know that when you were born, your mother didn’t even make it long enough to name you. Apparently, due to a letter that your ‘father’ angrily read from her explaining things, this was to be expected. See, she had the Tails quirk as well. Rasa didn’t say much about her companion, probably because he was just screaming random junk and not aware that I was listening. If people with Tails quirks give birth, and it is passed on, the carrier dies. Your mother knew what she was getting into. Her death was NOT your fault. No matter what anyone says or has said. This is all I know about the quirk itself, there was probably more in the letter, ment for him to help you with but we all know how THAT went.” _

__ “Ok.” Gaara said, sinking deeper in the couch.

“ _ I’m going to continue with the things that I know now. So even though you don’t sleep, you still are able to keep going. I think this is because I feed you energy, even without you having to ask. If you get sick or hurt, I try to give you more energy which probably works, unless you also have a healing quirk or something. Also there is like a spot inside this mindscape I can go into where I am shielded from everything. This is why I go silent sometimes, it is like being separated from you. I am glad for it to be honest, who would want to watch you sitting petting cats for hours on end, certainly not me.”  _ Shukaku said. 

“Thank you. I guess. I am… sorry for not talking to you like this before.” Gaara sighed.

“ _ It’s not just your fault. Maybe from now on we can work on well… working with each other.”  _ Shukaku suggested.

“That is probably a good idea.” Gaara admitted. 

“ _ Ok.”  _ Shukaku paused, “ _ So… what do you think about the dog… or who you named, Fluffy?”  _ Gaara frowned.

__ “He is nice I guess. I mean, he did respect you and get us to talk, and he is fluffy.” Gaara declared. 

“ _ Yes, I know that he is fluffy.”  _ Shukaku sighed,  _ “I guess he isn’t so bad.”  _

__ Gaara nodded in agreement.

**_~~~_ **

Ryo closed the door with a sigh, and headed back to the waiting room. Yamada and Aizawa stood upon seeing him.

“Are you guys done already? Or does he need us?” Yamada asked.

“Neither. I am just having him talk it out with Shukaku. I figured while they do that, we can get a start on the paperwork that is usually done by now.”

“Shukaku?” Aizawa frowned. Ryo looked at him confused.

“How about we talk in a more private space.” Ryo led them to a room down the hall from the one Gaara was in. “So you don’t know who Shukaku is?”

“Uh no? Should we? The fact Gaara is talking to this person seems like we should know them…” Yamada trailed off. Ryo sighed.

“Let’s start off with this. What do you think of his quirk, Tails?” Ryo asked, folding his hands. Aizawa frowned.

“Well the thing inside of him has caused him a lot of trouble in his short life. I feel bad that he has to deal with it. We don’t really know much about it.” Yamada admitted. Ryo blinked.

“So he has never talked to you about him, strange.” Ryo murmured and Yamada looked hurt, “Shukaku is the ‘thing’ as you called him. Since I also know nothing about his quirk, I have no idea what he actually is. Gaara seems adamant that he is not inherently bad, however; and from what he has told me, I agree. Shukaku just seems overprotective and Gaara admitted that beyond banter, the two don’t really talk. So I told them to sort out their differences and left them alone.”

Aizawa and Yamada looked at him in surprise. “I guess there really is a lot we don’t know about him.” Yamada said sadly. 

“It’s not like the problem child likes to talk about his troubles, that’s part of the reason we asked him to try this.” Aizawa comforted his husband. 

“I think you have to instigate conversation with him. He doesn’t seem to just start talking.” Ryo affirmed.

“That makes sense I guess.” Yamada said dejectedly.

“Now, before we start paperwork, what were the other parts of why you wanted to start therapy?”

“Well there is the obvious reason that the kid has trauma.” Aizawa said and Ryo nodded.

“In the aftermath of the USJ attack, Gaara was acting not like himself. He was extremely clingy but also his personality was more like you would see in a teen or a child. He also displayed behavior like this after a panic attack. He is EXTREMELY attached to fluffy and soft things. His entire mentality seems to shift.” Yamada explained, having been there. Ryo hummed.

“I think I would have to talk with him more to make sure, but this is probably something brought on by the fact he was never allowed to just be a kid and be able to be vulnerable. I hope that he will come back after today. Just watch him and try to be understanding while being there to support him. That shouldn’t be hard for you two, you are some of the most accepting and loving people I have ever met.” Ryo smiled and Aizawa opened his mouth to protest, “I have seen the way you act around your students. You may pretend to be cold but I know your secret. Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” He said with a wink. “Now let’s fill out that paperwork.”

**_~~~_ **

After discussing their relationship, Gaara and Shukaku didn’t talk much, instead lapsing into their familiar silence. Finally the door opened again and this time it was Fluffy, Yamada, and Aizawa. 

“Hey little listener! We got all of the paperwork filled out so what do you think? Ready to go?” Gaara nodded and got up off of the couch. 

“So we were thinking that we would go to the cat cafe for a late lunch, is that ok with you.” Aizawa asked. Gaara looked at him and happily nodded.

“Alrighty then, have fun! Will I be seeing you again?” Fluffy asked him. Gaara looked at the couple for confirmation.

“If you are up to it!” Yamada smiled and Gaara gave a hesitant nod.

“Ok then! I will see you sometime next week!” Fluffy waved as they left the building. 

As they got into the car, Yamada pulled out his phone. He typed in a quick message as to not to repeat the same mistake.

**_Spikasaurus_Rex_ **

Yamadad [1:10 pm]: Hey guys! We are done at the office and we thought we would go to the cat cafe now! Just wanted to let you know if you wanted to come. It is Paws and Claws. It is really close to UA. 

cat_bro [1:13 pm]: Would it be ok if we ate with our friends? We are still training, Mirio’s dad said they can drop us off at home later if that is ok?

Yamadad [1:13 pm]: Of course! Have fun with your friends! 

cat_bro [1:14 pm]: Thanks dad.

cat_bro [1:14 pm]: Wait. Meant bro.

cat_bro [1:14 pm]: Wait. Strike that. Just thanks.

Yamadad [1:15 pm]: Ok ^∇^

“The twins are eating with their friends and are getting a ride home later.” Yamada reported.

“Alright, I guess it is just us.” Aizawa grinned. 

“You seem offly happy about that.” Yamada accused.

“More cats for us.” Aizawa said gleefully and Yamada rolled his eyes, only to see Gaara sporting a similar grin and gasped. 

“I guess if anything can get the both of you to smile, it is cats.” Yamada sighed.

Aizawa pulled into a small parking lot and they all got out of the car. “The cafe is a short walk from here.” Aizawa told Gaara, who nodded and followed the couple down the street to a homey looking storefront. 

The shop had a neon sign  **_(even though most neon signs do not actually contain neon, but another noble gas....)_ ** that was shaped like a coffee cup with steam coming out of it. It also had silhouettes of cats painted in the window and warm light flooding the already bright street. 

They walked into the shop and a cheerful voice greeted them. “Hello! Is it just you three today?” The host had fluorescent green hair and an apron that was covered in pins. 

“Yup!” Yamada smiled, and the host beamed back at him.

“Alright, do you care whether you have a booth or a table?” Yamada looked at the other two, who both shook their heads.

“Nope!”

“Ok, just follow me then!” the host led them to a booth that was against a brick wall, “I will be your waiter today as well. My name is Jamie, it is nice to meet you!” 

“Not to be noisy, but that isn’t a japanese name.” Yamada stated, totally being nosy.

“Nope! I am from America! I decided to go to university here.” Jamie smiled.

“So cool!” Yamada praised. 

“Thanks!” Jamie gave them menus, “Can I get you guys something to drink?” 

“I want coffee. Black. With three shots of espresso.” Aizawa stated. Yamada looked at him in horror.

“No he will not. He will just have a black coffee.” Yamada narrowed his eyes at his husband who sighed.

“Fine. I will have a black coffee… with whipped cream on top.” Aizawa revised his order.

“Ok… next?” The waiter asked cheerfully, despite the strange interaction.

“I will have a peppermint mocha latte.” Yamada told them. 

“That is my favorite! And you?” Gaara looked at all three of them helplessly, overwhelmed by all of the drink options.

“I recommend a black coffee, since you do not like sweet things. If you don’t like it we can get you something else, ok?” Yamada said and Gaara gave a nod. 

“Ok! I will get those right out to you! The cats will wander by occasionally, and feel free to go in the common area to play with them!” The waiter informed, cheerfully walking to the kitchen.

“Hey look! There’s one!” Yamada cheered excitedly. An orange tabby wandered over to the table, and Gaara sank onto the ground next to the booth. The cat immediately walked into his lap. 

“Aww, the fluff ball likes you!” Yamada cooed. Before he was done speaking, two more cats were strutting their way over to the table. Yamada got out of the booth to go and pet a midnight black one, but it pushed past his hand and went to join the orange cat on Gaara’s lap. The cat that was traveling with it, some mix of a Russian Blue, also walked right up to Gaara, ignoring the blond, and sat down in front of the boy. 

“Heyyyy!! Shoooo” Yamada whined, “They ignored me.” Yamada returned back to his seat, pouting. Aizawa gave him a head pat and then widened his eyes in shock and fear.

Cats of all kinds were coming in droves and demanding Gaara’s attention. Gaara looked overwhelmed but also like he was experiencing pure bliss at the same time. 

It was at that moment that the waiter came back with their drinks on a platter almost dropping it in shock when they saw the sight in front them. “I think that is every cat in the cafe!” This statement was proven wrong when three more cats joined the clowder around Gaara.  **_(clowder=group of cats)_ **

“ _ Now I understand why that Shinso kid calls you cat overlord.”  _ Shukaku rolled his eyes. 

“I have never seen anything like this before! Not even with people with animal quirks!” the waiter gasped.

“I should have known this would happen,” Aizawa groaned, “Every single cat he meets is obsessed with him.” Yamada rolled his eyes.

“You’re just jealous.” Yamada huffed. The waiter laughed.

“I have no idea how you managed this kid, but here y’all go.” They said, picking their way to the table to drop off the drinks, “Now can I interest you in anything to eat?” Yamada orders some sweet pastry while Aizawa just sits near Gaara on the floor, successfully distracting two of the cats from the boy. 

Yamada sighed and handed each of them their coffees. “Just so you know, we are NOT spending the rest of the day here.” Aizawa raised an eyebrow, picking up the white and grey tortoiseshell.

“Now who’s jealous?” Aizawa smirked. Yamada let out a huff and shot a glare at his husband. 

After ten minutes the waiter came back with his pastry. Yamada ate it slowly, spacing it out over an hour just to make the two playing with the cats happy.  **_(did you know they don’t tip in Japan?)_ **

Jamie came back with their check, and they waved as they left the building.

“Come back again!” Jamie called out as they left, Aizawa assured them that they most certainly would, and wished them good luck in their studies.

The ride home was full of Yamada commenting on the experience while Aizawa just sighed. Shukaku was making witty remarks the entire time and Gaara even responded to some of them with some of his own. Shukaku took this as progress. 

When they got home, the cats all swarmed around them, looking to be fed, but seemed to smell the other cats on them. Swirls stalked off to the kitchen deciding to wait there, Mustachio became increasingly affectionate, and Ink rolled after Swirls. 

“Well, I guess we better feed the beasts and try and get back on Swirl’s good side.” Yamada sighed.

“She is never mad at us for that long.” Aizawa reassured.

“True,” Yamada admitted, “Maybe we will have Gaara give her some chicken as a treat while we feed her. She, like all of the cats apparently, really like him.” Gaara nodded, excited over the fact that he could participate in feeding the cats.

“And don’t forget about Floof!” Aizawa called as Gaara went to go and look for the treats. 

After the all four of the cats were fed and given treats, Swirls was back to her normal loving self. By this time it was later in the afternoon.

“Any word from the twins?” Aizawa asked, and if they had been summoned, all three phones went off.

**_Spikasaurus_Rex (timeline don’t make sense? Too bad.)_ **

Scary_sis [4:00 pm]: Hey, we are on our way home! Mirio’s dad is driving us and Mirio and Tamaki are with us in the car. Hope that is ok… 

Yamadad [4:01 pm]: Why wouldn’t it be ok?

Scary_sis [4:01 pm]: Well, I don’t know how many people like, know you are married and are taking care of us?

Yamadad [4:02 pm]: They are your friends! It’s totally fine. Besides, you guys are going to be our kids soon anyways!

Dadzawa [4:02 pm]: It’s not that it is a secret. It’s just more convenient that no one knows. Besides, problem child knows so it will come out eventually. 

best_auntie [4:03 pm]: wait. 

best_auntie [4:03 pm]: did I read that right?

cat_bro [4:04 pm]: problem child?

best_auntie [4:04 pm]: Hello????? Stop ignoring me you cowardsssss

Dadzawa [4:05 pm]: Midoryia, Gaara’s classmate

best_auntie [4:06 pm]: Seriously!!! Don’t make me show up at your house!!! On my patrol!!!!! 

Yamadad [4:06 pm]: Uh babe? Are we gonna appease the scary aunt? 

Dadzawa [4:06 pm]: Who?

cat_bro [4:06 pm]: Wish I had popcorn rn

best_auntie [4:07 pm]: Don’t make me tell class 1-A some stories of you when you were in highschool.

best_auntie [4:07 pm]: Don’t doubt my power.

Dadzawa [4:08 pm]: Fine. 

Dadzawa [4:08 pm]: We are adopting them.

best_auntie [4:08 pm]: First. Congratulations kiddies!!

best_auntie [4:08 pm]: Second. WHEN WHERE YOU TWO GOING TO TELL ME?!

_ best_auntie changed Dadzawa’s name to DADzawa _

_ best_auntie changed Yamadad’s name to YamaDAD _

_ best_auntie changed their name to real_auntie ™  _

_ real_auntie ™ changed cat_bro’s name to cat_nephew  _

_ real_auntie ™ changed Scary_sis’ name to fan_niece  _

_ real_auntie ™ changed sleepy_bro’s name to bean_nephew ™  _

DADzawa [4:10 pm]: why are you like this

YamaDAD [4:10 pm]: we didn’t hide it from you on purpose :( 

real_auntie ™ [4:11 pm]: surrreeeeeeeee

YamaDAD [4:11 pm]: no really! We just ya know… didn’t know how to tell you

real_auntie ™ [4:11 pm]: you just do it 

YamaDAD [4:11 pm]: Sorrrryyyyy ⊂(・﹏・⊂)

real_auntie ™ [4:11 pm]: Fine. When is your court date? 

DADzawa [4:12 pm]: Next Friday 

real_auntie ™ [4:12 pm]: cool. On Sunday we party.

DADzawa [4:13 pm]: What.

real_auntie ™ [4:13 pm]: We are having a gotcha day party on Sunday. Consider it your punishment because it will be at your house. 

DADzawa [4:13 pm]: no

cat_nephew [4:13 pm]: You guys don’t have to throw a party for us

DADzawa [4:13 pm]: Fine. 

real_auntie ™ [4:14 pm]: Awwwww look at that! Soft dad ;) 

YamaDAD [4:14 pm]: (๑>ᴗ<๑) he’s all grown up now!

DADzawa [4:14 pm]: I hate both of you.

cat_nephew [4:15 pm]: You really don’t have to do this guys

fan_niece [4:15 pm]: yeah, we don’t need anything special

YamaDAD [4:15 pm]: You love us. (ΦзΦ)

real_auntie ™ [4:16 pm]: YES YOU NEED SOMETHING SPECIAL!!!!! I WILL SPOIL YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL 

DADzawa [4:16 pm]: Zashi. Never use that face thing again. 

DADzawa [4:16 pm]: I swear problem children. You deserve this. This is also the only reason I am agreeing to this, Nemuri.

YamaDAD [4:16 pm]: YOU KIDS ARE GOING TO HAVE THE BEST PARTY YOU HAVE EVER HAD, JUST YOU WAIT.

YamaDAD [4:16 pm]: what, this one? (ΦзΦ)

  
  


cat_nephew [4:17 pm]: that’s not that hard, seeing as we have never had a party before.

YamaDAD [4:17 pm]: THEN WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE IT THE BEST PARTY IN EXISTENCE!!!!!!

real_auntie ™ [4:17 pm]: That is a crime. No one should keep you adorable cinnamon rolls from what you deserve. This calls for the big guns.

DADzawa [4:18 pm]: If you are having that big of a party, I don’t think that our house would work.

fan_niece [4:19 pm]: seriously tho. But if you guys really want to, it’s not like we can stop you.

cat_nephew [4:19 pm]: Is anyone else worried about the big guns?????

real_auntie ™ [4:19 pm]: we are gonna have so much fun planning this, right Yam?

real_auntie ™ [4:20 pm]: Hizashi? 

DADzawa [4:20 pm]: Hizashi is dead. I warned him about the face thing.

cat_nephew [4:20 pm]: so we are coming home to one ded dad? So we are introducing our friend’s to a corpse? I mean, I’m pretty sure they think we are insane anyways.

DADzawa [4:21 pm]: Fine. I will untie him.

DADzawa [4:21 pm]: Don’t you dare Nemuri

real_auntie ™ [4:21 pm]: aww. But you handed that to me on a silver platter :( But I will behave…

cat_nephew [4:22 pm]: OK! on that note we are home.

YamaDAD [4:22 pm]: I am freeee!!! Yes lots of fun.

YamaDAD [4:22 pm]: Invite them in!!! I wanna meet your friend’s parents!!! 

fan_niece [4:23 pm]: you sure? They were planning on leaving 

real_auntie ™ [4:23 pm]: Listen to the man.

real_auntie ™ [4:23 pm]: You know how other people have a Bucket list?

fan_niece [4:23 pm]: yes?

real_auntie ™ [4:24 pm]: He has a dad list. Let him check this off

YamaDAD [4:24 pm]: NEMURI!!!! LIESSSSS! ALL LIEESSSSSS

DADzawa [4:24 pm]: You better come down here and stop screeching, otherwise you are going to make them think we are axe murderers

real_auntie ™ [4:24 pm]: This is my cue to leave. By y’all. 

YamaDAD [4:25 pm]: talk to ya later

Temari turned off her phone with a sigh. “Our um… dad… wants you to come in so they can meet you. Is that ok with you?” She asked hesitantly.

“Really?!” Mirio said, “Wow! Your parents have been really different lately, like before you weren't allowed to do anything after school and now you are coming over on the weekend!” Temari and Kankuro winced. 

“Mirio…it’s not the weekend…” Tamaki huffed.

“Still! You guys never talk about your family now we get to meet them? I am so excited!” Mirio cheered. **_(#respect for whoever comes up with Mirio’s puns… probably the creator… but maybe he had help?)_ **

“Uh.” Kankuro started, “It’s sorta complicated… I… “ Kankuro looked at Temari, who gave a slight nod,” we are sorry that we never told you anything about what was going on…”

“We understand if you don’t want to… you know… be around us anymore because we didn’t tell you.” Temari said, reaching over to grab Kankuro’s hand, “It is just really hard to talk about… and we never knew how… and now it’s…” Temari’s eyes teared up.

“Hey! No it is just fine! We can wait until you are ready ok? We will be here for you, Tamaki and I, and of course Nejiri, even though she is not here right now. We are your friends!” Mirio reassured the twins, “I-”

“Um, not to interrupt,” Mirio’s dad said, totally interrupting, “But, there has been a man standing by your door for a while, and now it looks like he is headed over here.” 

Sure enough, Yamada was making his way towards the car.

“Hello!!!! Don’t be shy and come on in!!” Yamada invited, giving a wave. Kankuro was the first to react, and got out of the car, grabbing his bag.

“Hey Yamadad.” Kankuro said flatly, “Hey, you guys coming?” The rest of the group got out of the car and followed Yamada into the house.

“Do you guys want some tea?” Yamada asked, leading them to the living room, “Oh!! How rude of me! I didn’t even introduce myself!” Yamada scratched his head in nervousness, “My name is Yamada Hizashi and I am… um…”

“Our dad?” Kankuro supplied, and Yamada started tearing up.

“Yes! I am one of their dads! My husband is around here somewhere, he doesn’t really like social interaction very much…” Yamada looked around.

“This isn’t why you didn’t introduce us to your family before, right? Because like Mirio is gay too, it’s not like we were going to judge you or anything.” Mirio’s dad wondered, “Oh no! Mirio did you not tell your friends yet? I am so sorry!!” Mirio suddenly turned beat red, while Kankuro and Temari looked dejected 

“DAD! They know!!” Mirio shot out, “But is he right?” Mirio hesitated looking at the twins, while Yamada snuck away to let the friends begin to sort this out while he went and got the rest of the family.

“No.” Temari said softly.

“You don’t-” Mirio started, backtracking.

“No. This is something you should know. As you said, we are friends.” Kankuro said with a small smile. Yamada came back dragging Aizawa and Gaara trailing behind him. Gaara had the fluffy blanket over his head while he held Floof in his arms.

“Ok, how about we all sit down and get comfortable, this may be a long-” Yamada started, before recognition flashed in Mirio’s eyes.

“Wait! That’s Eraserhead! Mr. Aizawa! The man that expelled all of his class last year and over half of mine the year before!!” Mirio gasped, before taking a closer look at Yamada and the house around them. “And you are Present Mic! Oh my… you are married… how did I not know this?”

“That’s a good question,” Tamaki mumbled, “I knew.” Everyone besides Gaara looked at him in shock and Tamaki just shrugged.  **_[how does Tamaki know? Well that is a very intriguing question :) ]_ ** With promises to explain later, everyone sat down.

“So um… not really sure where to start here … so like I will start at the very beginning but hold your questions till the end. Our birth mom and dad were forced into a quirk marriage when they were just out of highschool. You think that this would be difficult since they were both over eighteen, but they were both aspiring heroes so let's just say our ‘grandparents’ had leverage.” Kankuro paused for a breath, Yamada and Aizawa were listening intently, for this was new information for them. “They had us, but neither of them were happy. Both of them had built up a solid enough standing in the public eye by now to not be affected by our ‘grandparents’ threats anymore, but our dad didn’t want to separate until we were older. Our birth mom had other plans, not that I blame her. She had fallen in love with someone, so she left in the night leaving all of her money to our father, it was a lot, to keep us supported. We would have been fine anyways, father said, but he took it because he knew it was her way of apologising for leaving him with two newborn babies. He understood though, and never blamed her.” Kankuro nudged Temari, signaling that it was her turn.

“He soon fell in love himself. Her name was Karura. A year later our Gaara was born.” Temari paused to give her brother a side hug, “But right after Gaara drew his first breath in the world, Karura drew her last. Father was really upset, as expected. He was fine for the first five years of Gaara’s life, although extremely overprotective, until something inside him snapped. Actually, thinking about it, he may have snapped the day his beloved died, and taking care of Gaara was the last way he could preserve his memory.  **_(what she doesn’t know is that he found the letter……………………… )_ ** Life was different after that. He was cold to Kankuro and me, but still somehow still the loving father that we knew. To Gaara however... “ Temari shuddered and both the twins looked close to tears. 

“He turned to hate his own son.” Kankuro said with distaste, “Gaara was, and is, extremely gifted. We were lucky, because this saved his life on so many accounts. I… don’t think any of us three can really get much into it… not tonight at least… but Gaara’s life was horrible. Looking back, we could have got him out of there at time but in the moment we were so afraid of him. So afraid that if we tried to run, Gaara would be dead, afraid that if we did get away, no one would believe us and father would send people to kill us. Still we could have done more! In the end it took a villain to save us and father coming the closest he ever got to killing Gaara to get him away from that life.” Kankuro started sobbing and Temari stared at the ground.

“Hey, you guys did the best you could think of to keep your brother safe, none of this is your fault.” Aizawa said softly, moving to kneel in front of the pair.

“How are you doing Gaara?” Yamada asked the boy, seeing as Aizawa had the twins covered. Gaara shrugged in response. Gaara didn’t realize that his siblings had cared about him so much before, he felt a strange feeling of protectiveness.

“I have a blanket now?” Gaara offered, struggling to make his siblings understand that everything was ok now, “And cats? They are fluffy?” Everyone looked at him confused and Kankuro’s sobs slowed to sniffling.

“ _ First… that was the worst supposedly comforting statement I have ever heard, second you’ve got this… I think…”  _ Shukaku encouraged.

“What?” Kankuro asked. Gaara opened his mouth but no words came out. So he simply stood up and deposited Floof in Kankuro’s lap. Kankuro started sobbing again and everyone else, even if they didn’t understand, shed at least a few tears. 

A few minutes of sibling hugging and the rest of the room feeling awkward later, the story continued. 

“Ok.” Teamri sniffed, “So like the villain saved Gaara, the villain escaped and… Gaara…” Temari trailed off thinking about how much to reveal, “Gaara has two quirks, and one of them can be dangerous. So basically he got placed with Aizawa and we said no, we will all be together… and here we are! Going to be adopted! Hopefully.” Temari finished. 

The room was speechless for a while. 

“I’d break the silence, but it isn’t tangible!” **_(that is the best I got)_ ** Mirio laughed causing the others to join in. 

“Sorry we didn’t tell you.” Kankuro muttered.

“No! I’m just upset that we couldn’t be there for you, but we are here now.” Mirio dragged Tamaki to give the twins a group hug. He was going to include Gaara, but he didn’t want to get his head bitten off.

The group was again sitting when Tamaki asked, “When did this happen? The attack I mean.” Temari looked up with a grimince, and Yamada took pity on her.

“The start of this school year.” Yamada supplied, and Mirio sucked in a breath and more hugging ensued, this time he didn’t have to drag Tamaki and so he chanced bringing Gaara in. Surprisingly, it worked. 

“I feel bad for intruding, I feel like this wasn’t a story for me to hear, but I am glad that I know nonetheless.” Mirio’s dad smiled.

“Oh crap! Nejire’s gonna kill us!” Kankuro suddenly exclaimed, smacking his face. Temari groaned. 

“If you feel up to it we can be there when you guys explain?” Mirio offered and the twins nodded. Another group hug was in order, and after a while of chitchating, Mirio’s dad announced that they were going to take their leave.

“I would be glad to stop by again anytime! I am happy that I got to meet the three of you!” Mirio’s dad said, causing Mirio to give another hug goodbye to the twins and the group reluctantly left with promises to meet at school before the festival tomorrow. 

Once they were gone Kankuro turned to the couple, “You guys didn’t know that either, I guess… I hope that you still want us?”

“Of course!!” Yamada cried, “It just makes me that much more determined to stuff you full of love and happiness!” 

“Zashi… that sounds threatening.” Aizawa snorted, “Anyways, you two,” He pointed at the twins, “need to get to bed. You have a big day tomorrow, and you are not dependent on coffee like me.”

“Maybe it is a threat.” Yamada mumbled, injured. Suddenly, a realization struck Yamada, “We didn’t invite them to the party!”


	55. Chapter 52 ~ Group Hugs and Suffering Squid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So, Hound Dog is our ‘perfect’ therapist cause both of us have had some bad experiences with therapists, so we made a good one! What ever happened to Queen songs??? Uh, I don’t know… I think it was the fever’s fault… we are random… 
> 
> We have too many plans… just you wait… we also may have made the Squid suffer… oops? Is it out of character… yessssssss… do we care… noooooooo… will he suffer more? Yes………… anything else Shinji? No? Ok then… Enjoy! Thank you all for your comments! We love reading them!! 
> 
> Oh... and I can't write a speech to save my life... so um... yeah...

After reassuring Yamada that the group of friends would be invited to the party, everyone finally was able to go to bed. 

At least after another group hug of course.

**_~~~_ **

Aizawa woke up at 4 am the next morning to turn on his coffee maker and then promptly fell asleep in the kitchen waiting until the smell of freshly brewed coffee would inevitably wake him up. 

Like usual, this both was too soon and too late. 

Aizawa inched over to the coffee maker and yawned. He picked the pot up and started pouring it into his cup… but his cup was missing. 

Now that he looked, there was no coffee left in the pot. Had he just dreamt that he turned the machine on? Aizawa sighed and set the coffee maker back up and turned it on, going to look for his cat mug. 

But it was nowhere to be found.

Frustrated, Aizawa turns to stalk up the stairs, thinking his husband was playing a trick on him when he comes face-to-face with Gaara. 

Holding Aizawa’s favorite cat mug.

“Gaara.” Aizawa growled, “Why are you holding my mug?” Gaara looked at him with fearful eyes and Aizawa sighed, “I’m not mad, I just want to know.” reassuring the kid.

“Coffee?” Gaara said softly, but it came out more of a question than a statement. Aizawa looked at him with a puzzled expression before realization came to him.

“ _ Oooh busted! You stole the tired man’s coffee!!”  _ Shukaku laughed.

“You drank my coffee.” Aizawa stated, and Gaara nodded, “The entire pot of coffee.” Gaara nodded again and Aizawa glanced at the clock, five o’ clock, it read.

The coffee maker takes about thirty minutes to brew coffee, if he started it at four, then that means, “You drank an entire pot of coffee in thirty minutes?” Gaara nodded a third time and Aizawa whistled, “That’s impressive. You have never drank my coffee before though, why now?”

“I had coffee yesterday, it was good.” Gaara informed him, “Sorry for drinking your coffee.” Aizawa blinked.

“It’s alright kid, I am making more. Besides, I am more impressed that you could drink that much in that short of a time span.” Aizawa said, proud, “I have got to go and wake up Hizashi now since he insisted on cooking a special breakfast for Kankuro and Temari today.” As he started up the stairs he turned back, “Don’t drink my coffee while I am gone. 

When Hizashi found out what had happened, he regretted ever letting Gaara have coffee yesterday. He already had one caffeine addict in the house, two is just unthinkable. 

The twins were also shocked, but for a different reason. They were surprised that Gaara had lasted this long without caffeine, and this offended Shukaku. 

Shukaku was also offended that no one was talking about him. He had thought that now Gaara and him were getting along better, Gaara could start officially introducing him or something. He at least thought he deserved a casual mention! 

He told this to Gaara, who told him that he would but not right now. Apparently it wasn’t a good time or something. Shukaku thought that he knew better than Gaara, seeing as the boy was completely useless in social situations without him, but refrained from saying anything when the boy promised that he would soon.

They left the house, both Gaara and Aizawa with fresh cups of coffee.

Kankuro had a very large bag that looked very suspiciously like a body bag with him as they loaded into the car. 

“Uh, Kankuro…” Temari started, “Where did you find that bag?” 

“This guy was offering it for free when we were with the gang yesterday, and I thought it was the perfect size for my things!” Kankuro said enthusiastically.

“Uh… You do know that the bag is a body bag, right?” Yamada asked nervously.

“Yeah, and? Your point is?” Kankuro responded, affectionately patting the bag beside him. Temari thought she had become immune to her brother’s strange behavior, but this was unexpected. 

“So… where are you guys meeting up?” Yamada asked, trying to change the subject.

“Shouldn’t you know? You are staff.” Kankuro remarked. Yamada sighed and didn’t try to strike up conversion for the rest of the drive.

**_High Five_ **

HoverParent [6:00 am]: We are on our way! 

_ It’same,Mirio! changed HoverParent’s name to 1#Fan  _

It’same,Mirio! [6:00 am]: We haven’t left the house yet. Tamaki is eating

Plantacide [6:01 am]: One of these days he will have to come up with better coping mechanisms because he won’t have the metabolism anymore

_ Plantacide changed ShySquid’s name to HanxiousSquid _

1#Fan [6:01 am]: What the in the great wide world is that name supposed to be…

Plantacide [6:02 am]: You know Hangry. Well now there is Hanxious. Hungry and Anxious. I am a genius.

It’same,Mirio! [6:02 am]: (O∆O)

AShipper [6:03 am]: Uhhhhh… 

AShipper [6:03 am]: What. Did I. Just wake up to?

1#Fan [6:03 am]: I don’t know what is more concerning to me. You coming up with that monstrosity, or the fact that you have a body bag.

It’same,Mirio! [6:04 am]: You just woke up? (〇□〇）

It’same,Mirio! [6:04 am]: Wait. Body bag?

AShipper [6:05 am]: Explain. (and yes. I was tired! Now I am well rested and ready to fight!) AND YOU KNOW THAT HE EATS FOR HIS QUIRK! T_T DON’T ATTACK THE BABY!! @It’same,Mirio! Protect your man! 

1#Fan [6:05 am]: Only Kankuro knows… he just showed up with it...

It’same,Mirio! [6:05 am]: But he does stress eat OvO #cannottellalie 

It’same,Mirio! [6:05 am]: Tamaki is his own person! He isn’t anyone’s! 

_ It’same,Mirio! changed Plantacide’s name to MurderCatWithAMustache  _

AShipper [6:06 pm]: I really don’t know why that is so funny… but I am laughing like a lunatic 

MurderCatWithAMustache [6:06 pm]: Oh? I thought you were a lunatic

AShipper [6:06 pm]: I will beat you today. Just you watch. V_V 

MurderCatWithAMustache [6:06 pm]: oh really? You aren’t even here yet.

AShipper [6:07 pm]: T_T

It’same,Mirio! [6:07 pm]: We are on our way!! 

1#Fan [6:05 pm]: See you soon!

Temari and Kankuro rushed off to their class’ waiting room as soon as they got out of the car. Yamada dragged them back to properly wish them good luck. Nemuri had also sent a good luck text. 

Yamada and Aizawa were again needed in the sound booth, the only reason they were not there yesterday was to take Gaara to his appointment with Fluffy, and much to the boy’s annoyance, he was forced to go with them. 

Aizawa looked at him with pity while Yamada had been ecstatic as they headed up to their post. Thankfully, Gaara had the foresight to bring several books and his blanket.

Yamada cheerfully opened the door to reveal Principal Nezu sitting in one of the four chairs in the room. 

“Good morning!” The hybrid cheered.

“Good morning!!” Yamada smiled, equally as cheerful.

“Morning.” Aizawa said with a sigh.

Nezu looked at Gaara expectantly.

“Morning?” Gaara nodded.

“Mew!” a tiny voice broke out.

“Mrow!” an older voice greeted. Everyone looked at Gaara expectantly and the boy looked over his shoulder to see two heads popping out of his bag. Gaara shrugged.

Aizawa sighed again. “Gaara, did you smuggle the cats?” Gaara shook his head.

“No, Mustachio probably did it on his own… remember how he used to get in our bags all the time?” Yamada speculated.

“True…” Aizawa sighed once more. 

“Meow?” Ink asked.

“Well yes! Gaara is quite kind! I understand your name for him perfectly.” Nezu smiled.

“Uh… were you talking to Ink?” Yamada asked, confused.

“Of course!” Nezu replied.

“Oh, that’s cool! I don’t know how I didn’t know that you could talk to animals!” Yamada remarked.

“It depends on the animal and their cognitive ability. It just so happens that Ink, like most felines, has a high enough ability for me to be able to communicate with.” Nezu explained.

“So what did he tell you?” Yamada inquired.

“Just some things about Gaara.”

“Mrow!” Mustachio said, responding to the name.

“Now what did he say?” Yamada asked.

“I have no clue! He communicates with pictures and I cannot understand them.” Nezu replied, “Are you guys ready for today?”

“Yes. So why are you here again?” Aizawa asked and Yamada hit him.

“Sho!” 

“Why, no reason.” Nezu grinned, “Have a great day!” The hybrid stood up and walked out of the room, waving in the direction of the cats as he left.

“Ok then…” Yamada trailed off, “Well there is nothing to do until the Sports Festival starts, so might as well get comfortable!” He need not have spoken. Aizawa was curled up in his sleeping blanket with Mustachio and Gaara was in the corner with his blanket, Ink, and a book, “Oh… then I guess I will just sit down… and read through the events or something.” 

**_~~~_ **

Temari was anxious. 

Not for herself, she knew that she could handle herself just fine, but for her friends and of course, her brother. 

She really wanted her friends to all do well, to see their talents accurately reflected in the results, but past experiences have left a cloud over her head.

The last two Sports Festivals have not gone well for her friends. 

She had placed well both times, but the others didn’t have her luck. The first failure was on the school administration. They did not foresee or try to solve the fact that Mirio literally could not keep his pants on for the festival. That did not end well… but at least everyone noticed him. 

Tamaki is pretty useless when confronted with large crowds. Temari knows that if the situation was serious, her friend could do anything. However, the Sports Festival was NOT his cup of tea. If Mirio would have had the suit that he had now, Tamaki’s first festival probably would have not ended with him digging himself into the ground and hiding until Mirio got him out at the end.

Nejire… well, Nejire was Nejire. She spent the first half laughing at Mirio and Tamaki, then she started bouncing around and asking questions to anyone that would let her talk to them. She at least made it to the second round.

Kankuro was doing well at first until the second event. He got out one of his puppets, and it threw him out of bounds. This puppet was in fact not a puppet, and instead a robot made by the twins in the support course. This was the last time Kankuro let anyone touch or build one of his puppets. 

Needless to say, they did not get a lot of internship offers that year.

The second year was a little better, all of them miraculously made it to the third round, but Mirio still was unable to use his quirk without losing his clothes. Temari had been ready to kill whomever made that decision. Mirio had gotten physical combat help from Sir Nighteye at that point, so it was not like he needed his quirk in the first place. Tamaki and Mirio were put against each other and Tamaki straight up walked out of the ring. He probably would have done that with whoever he ended up fighting, but still. 

Mirio, being the honorable guy that he was, disqualified himself. (Tamaki was very upset and blamed himself afterwards, leaving Mirio to feel guilty)

Kankuro had done well the first round, but in the second everything fell apart… literally. Whoever he was fighting used their quirk to send a weird looking liquid at him, but he recovered quickly.

When he moved to fight back, his puppets fell apart into pieces. Apparently the quirk the girl had reacted with what Kankuro used to link his puppets together and dissolved it. This caused Kankuro to spend countless hours in the Support Department developing resistant parts. He had grown close to some of the students there, so at least one thing came from that.

Nejire was more focused on winning the Beauty Pagent than the actual festival having lost to a support student named Keranzaki Bibimi last year. The event takes place between the third and second events so when Nejire lost to the girl again, she did not perform well in the third round. 

She could only hope this year would be better. This year they were able to wear their hero costumes because anyone that would have been able to transfer would have already. This was already better because that would mean that Mirio would be able to use his quirk at will. It was about time for them to head out to the field, and Mirio, Tamaki, and Kankuro were nowhere in sight.

**_High Five_ **

1#Fan [7:23 am]: WHERE ARE YOU BOYS!!!

MurderCatWithAMustache [7:23 am]: on our way. sry

MurderCatWithAMustache [7:23 am]: tami had a panic attack

Nejire found Temari and they headed out to the field together.

When they saw the three boys enter, they waved them over. Nejire immediately pulled Tamaki in for a hug.

“It will be just fine, little kitten!” Nejire told him, “After all, you have your big strong boyfriend to save you from the crowds!” Nejire winked at both boys who flushed, Mirio muttering something that sounded like ‘Tamaki is not my boyfriend… I think’

“ALLLLLLrighty!!!” Came a too familiar loud voice that boomed over the field, “We are ready to get started!! The class that everyone has been waiting for, the class in which most of them got expelled by their homeroom teacher-”

“They deserved it…” Aizawa mumbled.

“CLLLAAAASSSSS 3-AAAAAA!!” Yamada announced, signaling them to get into their position for the speech. 

Tamaki grew increasingly closer to going into another panic attack as Yamada announced the rest of the classes, and his friends struggled to try and distract him. Meaning, he was too far buried in Mirio’s chest to actually pay attention to their ‘distractions’. 

“OK! GIVING THE SPEECH FOR THE THIRD YEARS IS…” Yamada drawled off, “AMAJIKI TAMAKI!!” Midnight came over to where the friends were standing and handed Mirio the microphone.

“You got this kid! You just stay right here and give that speech like a boss!” Midnight proclaimed as Mirio got Tamaki to take the microphone. 

Tamaki hated himself. He was always careful to keep himself out of the number one spot, but this year he had gotten distracted. When their homeroom teacher told him he was doing the speech and Mirio looked so happy, there was no way he could have said no. Not that he could have in the first place, because once Fatgum found out that he was in the top spot it was a moot point to try and get out of it.

Tamaki wanted to say no. 

At least he knew the speech was good, Mirio had helped him write it after all, that was, if he actually could get it out.

“You can do this, Tamaki.” Mirio whispered, “Just recite to me the speech. Just like we practiced earlier.” Tamaki could do that right? Besides, buried in Mirio’s chest there might as well be no one but them anyways. Tamaki opened his mouth.

“This is our last year. All of us have come far from where we started. No matter what we are going to do after school is over, we all depended on someone to get where we are today. We are meant to showcase our skills today, but remember the people that helped you get here, and do it for them as well as yourself.” Tamaki recited dropping the microphone before deciding to try and slink unto the ground. 

His plan did not work, however, as his friends were determined to sweep him up in a group hug as the crowd clapped.

Mirio offered comforting words, as he could tell that Tamaki was dissociating and would be out of it for a bit. A glance to the rest of the friends led them to form a protective ring around the two, handing the microphone to Midnight when she came by.

“Thank you Amajiki! With that, we are going to start preparations for the first event.” Yamada paused for dramatic effect, “Third Years!! Get in three lines near the obstacle course to receive your Eggie!!!” 

“Our what now?” Kankuro blurted.

What the heck else am I forgetting in the AN like I feel like there was something else we wanted XDDD


	56. Chapter 53 ~ Sports Festival Begins and- Wait… Chickens?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha… funny joke… I accidentally copied part of our conversation last chapter… it’s gone now… sorry bout that… this is why you proofread your writing folks… haha… we don’t do that either… which is probably how sometimes there are cringy parts cause we are like both kinda cringy and we are writing at 1 am… so what do you expect… 
> 
> WAAITTTTT I DIDN'T FIX IT IN AO3......... oh noooo
> 
> Also… if everyone is out of character… we just write in the way that we feel is best at the time… (then I regret it later…) We also are kinda imputing whatever makes sense and stuff… even if it is not cannon… what even is cannon in this story anymore anyways… 
> 
> The third year festival is painful for us lol… we got a little too creative and now it be complicated… sooooo… we hope this makes coherent sense.... ALSO!! The hero courses have their costumes on because anyone that would have moved up would have by now, and they can become certified as adults if not… 
> 
> Yes… we did make like forty character sheets for all of the characters that we made. Yes it did drive us insane… yes we had fun… did it take too much of our time? Also yes… did we write only 1,000 words in like four days cause of all the planning we had to do? Yes… did we make a bracket? Yes… Cause I am obsessed…

Turns out that an ‘eggie’ was a child sized dummy, that happened to be a boiled egg.

Kankuro was freaking out about how the eggies had come to be. Eggs were not meant to be that size and shape. He was so deep in his freak out that he almost missed Yamada’s explanation.

“...we have the pro hero Eggman to thank for providing the Eggies!! He has worked tirelessly since Monday getting these prepared for us!” Yamada praised, as the final student collected their eggie, “Now. You will be competing in a rescue operation!! You are going to run an obstacle course all the while keeping your Eggie safe from harm. Throughout the course, there are more Eggies in need of rescuing! However, you must be careful as these Eggies are hostages and there are ‘villains’ making sure they stay that way! You have five minutes to complete the course and bring your Eggies or hostages to the finish line!” The students all broke out in panicked voices.

“OW!” Aizawa jabbed Yamada in the side.

“It’s thirty minutes.” Aizawa stated.

“Oh! It does say thirty! My mistake!” Yamada apologized and the students breathed a sigh of relief.

 _‘It doesn’t matter the time, I’m going to fail anyways’_ Tamaki thought to himself, holding his eggie with his head against Mirio’s chest.

“Anyways, your final score will be based on the time you finish, the condition of any Eggie that you have and the number of Eggies. Take your positions at the start of the race, and I’ll hand this over to Midnight!!” Yamada concluded, switching off the microphone until the race **_(AH yes, the rave. What I typed changes so much about this situation…)_** started.

When Yamada turned around, Gaara was staring at him with a flat look.

“What?” Yamada asked, looking at him confused.

“Eggies?” Gaara deadpanned.

“Believe it or not, I had nothing to do with this. This was the doing of Eggman!” Yamada defended, “I would definitely have come up with a better name!” Gaara rolled his eyes.

**_Projectile_ **

Projectile [8:00 am]: So how’s it at your house this morning?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:01 am]: Not at home

Projectile [8:01 am]: Wait. Where are you this early then?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:01 am]: Early? I’m at the third year sports festival in the sound box thing.

Projectile [8:02 am]: Trueeeee… and I forgot you had siblings who are third years and then also who your new parents are.

Projectile [8:02 am]: Also. Lucky.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:02 am]: Lucky?

Projectile [8:02 am]: yah.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:03 am]: ok.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:03 am]: Mustachio and Ink snuck into my bag, so now I have cats and a blanket, as well as a book, so I guess that is lucky?

Projectile [8:04 am]: Pictures or it didn’t happen.

Projectile [8:04 am]: Oh. I have to go. My guardians are up. Probably won’t be able to see the pictures till tonight so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:04 am]: ok. Why?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:05 am]: {picture of Ink lying on Gaara’s lap which is covered by a blanket of course}

“ALRIGHT STUDENTS! This is your last festival, show the world what you are made of!!” Midnight announced, startling Gaara, “It’s time to start! Get ready to go in, three,” Mirio detached Tamaki from himself and the five friends all nodded at each other, “two,” all of the third years tensed and tightened their grips on their eggies, “one,” Temari took Kankuro’s hand and gave it a quick short squeeze, “GO!”

The mob rushed forward to find themselves in a city. Buildings rose around them, shops and other business, skyscrapers and small food stands.

However, there was one difference besides the lack of people when compared to a real city.

Traps were everywhere.

“This is less like an obstacle course and more like a trapped maze or something!” Kankuro complained to his friends, as he dodged a spike that was set off by another student ahead of them.

“Hungy Howleds takes the lead, melting through walls of ice with his quirk!” Yamada cheered.

“Ice walls?! Where are there ice walls?” Temari shouted, “I’m going to go down this alley, see you guys at the finish line!” Temari ran away from them with a wave.

“Wow. My own sister, ditching me.” Kankuro said flatly, “Guess we kinda have to separate to get anything done here… see ya!” Kankuro took off in the exact opposite direction his sister did, leaving the other three to separate on their own.

“Well, I guess we better get started then, let’s all make it to the next event. That includes you Tamaki.” Nejire said pointedly. Tamaki glared at her but brought forth tentacles all the same, reaching up to pull himself on top of a building.

“Taking the high road! Smart!” Mirio admired, running forward himself.

“Whoa! Frested Flacks of General Studies’ eggie just got impaled by a street lamp he slid into! Hopefully he can recover!” Yamada shouted. Nejire shrugged and ran off on her own.

**_~~~_ **

Temari laughed as she heard her brother shouting after her, before screaming as she almost fell into a hole with ALLIGATORS at the bottom.

“WHY IN THE GREAT WIDE WORLD ARE THERE ALLIGATORS!!!” Temari screamed, adjusting her eggie to be more secure.

She continued to grumble to herself as she made her way down the alley, more cautious than before, however.

“Poppy Eynes of General Studies just decked Kenarry Freichicken or FIVE DOLLAR FILLUP from Hero Studies Class B! That wasn’t very heroic!” Yamada commented.

Temari winced, Poppy Eyens hated Kenarry because Kenarry was incapable of making any decisions.

Because she was distracted, she almost ran straight into flames.

She stood back, and evaluated how to best get around it, when she saw an eggie in the middle of the flames.

“Ok. We can work with this.” Temari muttered to herself. She thought briefly. She needed to generate a force that would be powerful enough to starve the fire of oxygen, but if it wasn’t enough, the fire would get worse, and the eggie would ‘die’, if too much, the eggie would fall back and ‘die’.

She calculated carefully and reached back and unfolded her fan three quarters of the way. She forcefully drove it horizontally and grabbed control of the wind, pushing it forward.

The flames went out. Temari rushed forward and grabbed the eggie, hoisting it over her shoulder, wasting no more time.

Temari wanted to win. She figured if she could finish as fast as she possibly could, while picking up any eggies along the way, she could achieve her goal.

Due to her determination and quick thinking, she was able to breeze through many more obstacles and even picking up two more eggies before stopping just as she could see the finish line.

She stopped for the sheer shock of seeing a cackle of hyenas standing between her and her goal. 

“OH! The animals have escaped from the zoo!!! Have fun!!” Yamada cheered.

“You are having way too much fun with this.” Aizawa grumbled, standing up to go and grab whichever cat Gaara would let him have.

“As a note, all the animals are not actually real, they are a result of a quirk so no worries about the animals safety!!” Yamada added as an afterthought.

“I can’t believe this.” Temari muttered looking around to see how she was supposed to get around this.

While she was thinking, she saw Mirio come from the adjacent alley and cross the finish line. This spurred her into action.

“We have our first finisher!! Lemillion!” Yamada announced

Making use of her surroundings, she used her fan to blow flames, that were currently destroying a bakery, into the hyenas, spooking them into scattering.

The path now clear, Temari rushed forward to cross the finish line.

“AND A SECOND FINISHER!! TEM- I MEAN, FUJIN FROM CLASS A!!!!!!!!!!!” Yamada squealed.

“Could you be any more biased?” Aizawa asked gruffly, but a prideful tone showed through his voice. Yamada looked at him bashfully, but he raised an eyebrow and turned off the mics, “Whyyyy nooooo how could I, my beautiful husband. I love our beautiful children but I will neveeerrrr be biased…”

Aizawa choked, “Nevermind.” and he reached over and turned the mics back on.

Temari took a deep breath as she gave her eggies to the exam monitors and stumbled over to where Mirio was waiting. Those things were not light.

“Hey!” Mirio waved and Temari smiled at him.

“Hey! You did amazing! You got here before me… I guess you win this round.” Temari sighed. Mirio shook his head.

“I don’t think I had as many eggies as you… and I think I cracked one of them when I almost fell into a pit with Alligators… I had to reach out with my hand and that just happened to be holding one of them.”

“I guess there is that… wait why didn’t you…” Temari realized something, “I guess all the training with Nighteye came in handy since you couldn’t really use your quirk.” Mirio grinned at her.

“Yup! Another instance where my quirk isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!” **_(did I have her talk about his quirk just to use this pun? Yes, yes I did.)_** Temari groaned.

“Let’s just go sit and wait for the rest of our friends to show up.” Temari suggested, glancing at the clock. Temari had finished in exactly twenty minutes and now only eight minutes remained. Six more people had finished in that time.

“Sounds like a plan! You certainly put all your eggs in one basket!” Mirio laughed, Temari resigned herself to eight more minutes of egg puns.

**_~~~_ **

Tamaki’s feet landed on the top of the nearest building. The only reason that he was trying in this festival was the fact that Mirio would be disappointed if he didn’t try and not to mention the lecture that Fat Gum would give him.

Fat Gum was the reason that he could deal with the crowd at the moment. He suggested pretending like it was real situation where people were in danger. Tamaki informed him that it wouldn’t work because he could hear the audience, and Fat Gum responded by walking into a store, then coming out three minutes later with earplugs.

Tamaki promised that he would try to get the pro off his back.

He wasn’t expecting both to somewhat help with his anxiety.

‘Focus… we need to get to the end. For Mirio.’ Tamaki told himself. He grew his chicken wings and started to hop/fly to building to building.

“Poppy Eynes of General Studies just decked Kenarry Freichicken or FIVE DOLLAR FILLUP from Hero Studies Class B! That wasn’t very heroic!” Mic-sensei commented.

In true Yamada fashion, this was extremely loud and unfortunately could be heard through Tamaki’s earplugs.

Tamaki loses his balance on the edge of the next roof, and faceplants in a dumpster.

The dumpster was filled with trash… where did they get the time to set all of this up and gather all the supplies?

Tamaki groaned and sat up. Luckily, his eggie was ok.

Tamaki decided to keep to the allies from that point on, and started running forward, using his wings to speed him up.

He ran past a sign that said free eggs, before running into what looked like a chicken.

Tamaki paused. A chicken? Tamaki realized what he had on his back… chicken wings… he looked back down at the chicken.

“Look, chicken. I am not one of you ok? I am sorry for running into you… and also for eating your friends all the time. I do it to save people… so sorry?” Tamaki looked worriedly at the chicken.

Suddenly, more chickens started appearing. “Balk?” The original chicken said, tilting their head, “BALLLLLLLKKKKK!!!!” If Tamaki had to guess he would say that roughly translated to charge as about fifteen chickens rushed him.

Tamaki took off running as fast as he possibly could.

Tears started falling from his eyes. All of his instinct kicked in and he manifested horse legs and the rest of the event was a blur. He didn’t know if any traps were triggered because he was focused on running in terror. He could face villains… but the wrath of the chickens he eats was too terrifying.

Once he passed the finish line he did not stop running. Luckly, he soon was slowed by wind in his face, then arms were around him.

“Tamaki! You are safe and you did amazing!!” Mirio congratulated.

“No. Not safe. Chickens are upset. I will never eat chickens again. I will donate to chicken charities, I will never harm a chicken again I-” Tamaki panicked into Mirio’s chest.

“Chickens?” Mirio asked.

“There were chickens! They were mad I ate their friends!” Tamaki wailed. Mirio laughed.

“I’m guessing you missed the whole announcement where Mic-sensei said that none of the animals were actually animals?” Temari asked, putting her hand in Tamaki’s hair.

“Yeah… so they are not mad at me?” Tamaki sniffed.

“No you poor bean. The chickens aren’t mad at you.” Temari reassured.

“So tell us what happened before that.” Mirio prompted.

“Wel-l I wa-s following Fat Gum’s advice and it was working… but then I heard M-mic-sensei’s voice and I ki-inda face planted in a dumpster. Then there were chickens! And they ran after me… and I ran all the way here…” Mirio whistled.

“So… you have quite the hen-durence.” Mirio smiled, Tamaki groaned into his chest.

“Mirio…” Tamaki sighed, “Wait! My eggies! I forgot to give them to the person! I am sorry Mirio!” Tamaki panicked.

“Don’t worry about it. I took them from you and gave them to the examiners. They were understanding.” Temari reassured him.

“Ok…” Tamaki said, still unconvinced.

“Let’s get you cleaned up. I hope this ends soon… I’m getting a little peckish.” Mirio smiled, leading an embarrassed Tamiki to the medics, as he was in fact hit with a few traps, and Temari followed them groaning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! So we hope you enjoyed… we were originally planning on doing the rest of at least the first event but we wanted to get this out just in case what is happening to us in the coming days interferes with anything……… if you guys are interested in the character sheets… let us know… they are VERY random XD Seriously can’t wait till you meet some of the character’s coming up… (Me wanting to ask a question… me realizing the big reveal for them didn’t happen yet… welp…)
> 
> Should Kankuro’s title be Master of Puppets [secret hero name]
> 
> Or
> 
> [secret hero name] the puppet master hero?
> 
> (Loopholes 101)
> 
> anything else Shinji? Ok then, till next time!


	57. Chapter 54 ~ Splitting up And Searching For Clues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! We aren’t dead! Surprise! So we have had an eventful last couple of weeks. Our school still had Marching Band so we were there for nine hours and had no energy left. There were a lot of other things going on as well, like me being carted away to a land of no wifi or data yet again. We hated not writing in that period but it just couldn’t happen. I have to go on another trip so this chapter doesn’t cover as much as we originally planned, but y'all have waited too long for an update so here ya go!
> 
> Also the end note is a mess of regret... I PROMISE WE ARE BETTER AT CHARACTER BUILDING THAN THAT!! I have proof... it's just spoilers... or for entirely different works...for some reason I thought the character sheets were funny at 2 am when we wrote them... 
> 
> Uh so this chapter. Apparently we wanted to torture ourselves and make the most complicated second event we could think of at that moment. I am writing this as we are about to attempt to make this work… *sweats nervously* We can only hope that it turned out the way we wanted it to!! *gets ready to draw out diagrams and models to figure out where everything goes*

Gaara glared at the floor in front of him.

Gaara was no stranger to boredom, but being bored while being stuck with the loudest human being on the planet was the worst thing he had ever experienced.

The only saving grace would be the fact that he had soft things to quell the burning need to throw Yamada out of the window. However, if he had to sit here under these circumstances much longer, he may lose the internal battle.

“ _You’ve been wanting to throw a lot of things lately… should I be worried?”_ Shukaku commented.

“Shut up.” Gaara grumbled.

“What’s up little listener?” Yamada asked, hearing the kid behind him.

“Nothing.” Gaara mumbled.

“Oh are you bored?” Yamada inquired, and Gaara looked at him, “Ok… didn’t you bring a book?” Gaara held up the three books he had brought to show the man that he had finished them all. “Alright then…” Yamada trailed off thinking, “Weren't you texting someone before?” Gaara nodded, “Then why don’t you text

them again!” Yamada cheered, proud of himself for coming up with a solution.

“I can’t.” Gaara informed the man. Yamada’s triumphant smile fell.

“Why not?”

“His guardians are awake,” Gaara stated. Yamada blinked.

“So?” Yamada asked, confused, and Gaara shrugged. Sensing they would get no more out of the boy with that brand of questioning, Yamada and Aizawa shared a look.

“What is your friend's name?” Yamada asked.

“Shinso.” Gaara answered.

“The one that you’re going to take on as an apprentice, Sho?” Yamada turned his questioning to his husband.

“I’m not taking him on as an apprentice.” Aizawa said gruffly, “But yes, I agreed to help him. Why don’t you ask if he could train tomorrow.” Gaara nodded and sent the question.

“I hope he says yes! I could make lunches!” Yamada cheered, happy again, then realized that Gaara was still bored, “Do you have anyone else you could text?” Gaara sighed and nodded. He pulled out his phone again and resigned himself to the fact he would have to talk to Midoriya.

**_Midoriya_ **

Gaara [8:59 am]: I have been told that texting will solve my boredom.

Midoriya [9:01 am]: Ok? Hello! What’s going on?

Gaara [9:01 am]: I am trying to distract myself so I do not commit a murder

Midoriya [9:01 am]: Oh! I can be distracting! But can I ask what is going on?

Midoriya [9:01 am]: Unless of course you don’t want to share! Anything is fine!

Gaara [9:02 am]: I am stuck at the third year sports festival and Yamada is being really loud.

Midoriya [9:02 am]: Oh yeah! I forgot you have older siblings! So are you there with your parents?

Gaara [9:02 am]: I guess so?

Midoriya [9:03 am]: I am guessing Yamada is the one that you are trying not to kill then?

Midoriya [9:03 am]: Oh sorry for assuming things!

Gaara [9:03 am]: Yes, Yamada is the one. Assuming what?

Midoriya [9:04 am]: That you have parents

Midoriya [9:04 am]: Wait no!

Midoriya [9:04 am]: That you are there with parents? Sorry…

Gaara [9:05 am]: They will be my parents, I guess.

Midoriya [9:05 am]: Oh cool! So how do your sibling’s quirks work?

Gaara [9:05 am]: Kankuro does something with puppets and Temari either has control of air or fans

Midoriya [9:06 am]: Oh sorry for asking… are you not close with your siblings?

Gaara [9:06 am]: No, they are on the field and I am stuck in the annoying box thing.

Midoriya [9:06 am]: Wait I meant like your relationships with them.

Gaara [9:07 am]: I don’t know. Their quirks aren't something I ever needed to know.

Midoriya [9:07 am]: sorry for asking!

Midoriya [9:07 am]: your sister is doing really great!

Gaara [9:08 am]: how do you know? Are you here?

Midoriya [9:08 am]: nope! I am at my house watching the tv broadcast!

Gaara [9:08 am]: oh

Midoriya [9:09 am]: so who do you think will win?

**_(mido is trying his best here… poor bean)_ **

Gaara [9:09 am]: I don’t know.

Gaara [9:10 am]: Do you have an idea **_(Shukaku yelled at him)_**

Midoriya [9:12 am]: I’m not completely sure, so many of the third years have a great chance! Your sister is really cool! Although Lemillion is also doing really well this year, I don’t know much about his quirk… this years support students have done really well since their first year, so you have to look out for them as well.

Midoriya [9:12 am]: Sorry for rambling… so I guess it is anyone’s win!

Gaara [9:12 am]: yeah

Midoriya [9:13 am]:Oh! The next event is starting! If you want you can text me after!

Gaara [9:13 am]: ok.

The second that Gaara put his phone down, Yamada started yelling into his microphone again. Both Aizawa and Gaara winced.

“OK!! WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU THE SECOND EVENT WILL BE STARTING!!!!!! IT TOOK A FEW MINUTES TO GET ALL OF THE POINTS TALLIED UP BUT WE ARE HERE NOW! OR NEXT EVENT, CAPTURE THE FLAG PAINTBALL EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!

Temari sighed as Yamada’s voice came over the loudspeakers. She really felt bad for her brother right now.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself before opening them and looking at the leaderboard.

  1. Mirio



  1. Temari




She stared in shock before glancing down the list, looking for the rest of her friends.

9\. Tamaki

10\. Benny

11\. Greg

15\. Bibimi

16\. Nejire

27\. Kankuro

She felt happiness jolt through her as she realized that all of them made it. That happiness was quickly replaced by annoyance when her eye caught the last name on the list.

40\. Nara

“That lazy, annoying, childish, fool! Of course he managed to get exactly fortieth! I don’t know why he even tries!” Temari muttered under her breath. Before she could rant further, Midnight took over to explain the mess of an event that was to come.

“As everyone knows, the second event in the sports festival is a team event. The third years this year will be participating in a capture the flag event! You have a max of four people per team, and you will be setting up base in the same cityscape as the obstacle course, minus the traps, to defend your flags! Once you make your team, your flag will be given to you made up of the combined point total of each member from the previous round. Of course the higher you placed the more points you are worth to your team, so keep strategy in mind! You leave your flag in the base you choose and you can choose to defend it using all or some of your team, or just abandon your flag to go in search of bigger prey! If you capture another team’s flag, you must take it back to your base for it to count.” Midnight informed, “There was a last minute change to this event. You have paintball guns! If you get shot, be careful! If you get shot three times more, you are out no matter if your team makes it or not.” Midnight paused, cracking her whip, “Now, you have about ten minutes to form your teams and get your flags. Once all teams have their flags, you have an additional ten minutes to find a base before the event starts! Your time begins now!”

Temari immediately started planning. All of the five obviously couldn’t be together, not that all of them being together would be a good idea even if they could, but she had to be smart about this.

As Temari put together a list of everyone remaining and their strengths and weaknesses, Nejire was bouncing over to her with two other people in tow.

The victims were two of their fellow classmates in class 3-A.

The red-headed Haya Yuyu and the currently rosy-pink haired Akiashi Jun.

“Join us Temari!” Nejire commanded and Temari rolled her eyes.

“You two are alright with this?” Temari asked in confirmation. Shi nodded while Haya gave a cheerful yes. With that Nejire let go of Shi and grabbed Temari instead, dragging them to where the line was beginning to form.

**_~~~_ **

Kankuro snickered as he saw who was in fortieth, as he knew that Temari would be annoyed.

He turned to where he knew Mirio was and pointed a finger gun at him grinning in a silent question.

Mirio was already headed over to him, a matching grin on his face, Tamaki shadowing behind him.

Once all three of them were together, Kankuro spoke up, “So, who else is thinking we need one more member?” Mirio nodded.

“Did you have anyone in mind? Mirio asked, wondering if they were on the same page, as Kankuro nodded.

“Our resident strategist in Class 3-B, the man our dear Temari hates, Nara.” Kankuro confirmed.

“He is a really good choice for this event.” Tamaki said softly and they all agreed.

“Now, let's go and find him before someone snatches him!” Kankuro declared, and they headed off to do just that.

It didn’t take too long to find Nara, as they assumed where he would be, sitting against the stadium walls. Nara raised his hand in greeting.

“I figured that you were going to seek me out again this year, Lemillion.” Nara smirked.

“Well you know the saying, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it!” Mirio smiled, “So what do you say?” Mirio held out a hand to the boy on the ground, “You in?” Nara took it.

“Let’s get started then.”

**_~~~_ **

As a group, they had gotten the places of first, seventh, sixteenth, and nineteenth, which Temari’s group knew would place them up pretty high on the point spectrum.

That was confirmed when they got their flag. It was a simple plank of wood, not even a flag, with a number written on in big, bold, orange numbers. The flag read 538. They were also handed four paintball guns with a bucket of ammo.

As they were one of the first teams to have gotten in line, they have to wait as the other students received theirs.

“Ok! We all know each other really well in terms of how our quirks work obviously… we just need to put together a plan to win!” Nejire clapped her hands together.

“Shi?” the girl looked at Temari when she spoke, “Do you want to do defence with me? I think we would be the best at keeping everyone away from our flag and hopefully flags.” The shy girl gave a firm nod and small smile.

“Well that leaves you and me on offense, Nejire!” Haya cheered, throwing her arm around Nejire’s shoulders, making Nejire blush. Temari sent a sly smile at Nejire and turned back to the line.

“Well it looks like Miritama and Kankuro are with Nara. They will be a force to be reckoned with.” Nejiere commented and Temari scowled.

“If Nara actually does anything.” Temari scoffed while Nejire rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe you are still caught up on your battle with him first year.”

“But it’s not just that battle! He does the bare minimum to get by! The least he could do is pretend like he cares!” Temari huffed, making Haya laugh.

“We will just have to beat them then.” Haya claimed. The group continued to strategize until Midnight announced for them to head into the city.

It was a strange feeling to go backwards through something you were just speeding through earlier, especially without having to look out for traps. Temari spots the perfect place based on their strategizing.

“There.” She pointed up at the top of a concrete memorial that was crudely sculpted into a bull. There would be enough room for them to stand and easily defend.

“Perfect.” Haya smiled, “Well, let’s try and get up there discreetly… or Shi could just airlift us…” Shi rolled her eyes and pulled out a red cube the size of a can of soup.

She closed her eyes and the red cube morphed into a red rope. She tied it into a lasso and handed it over to Haya expectantly.

“Or we could climb… whatever works…” Haya sighed. She expertly threw the loop around the left horn of the bull and began her ascent.

Once she got up enough of the way, Nejire followed. Soon they were all up on top of the bull.

Now that they had a ‘base’ they started loading the guns and they found a safe place to stash the flag where it wouldn’t be easily seen.

They still had to wait around, after they were all ready to start, for Midnight to give the official start of the second event.

“Good luck to all of you, and the clock starts now, you have thirty minutes!” Midnight cheered.

“This isn’t the most out of sight place, you know.” Shi sighed, “That means we will probably get targeted constantly.” Nejire clapped her on the back.

“I know you and Temari got this!” Haya smiled and grabbed the rope to grapple back down.

“Don’t forget to remove the rope when we get down! See ya later!” Nejire waved.

“Well,” Temari turned to Shi, “Here we go, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Sheets… these are way random because it was like 2 am ok people? (for the one person who was interested XD) Uhhhh looking at like almost all of these they all are like so weird… what were we thinking…
> 
> Shinji: I don’t think we werrrrrreeeeeee
> 
> Iwa: These aren’t even the weird ones…
> 
> Shinji: Pretty sure they slowly regressed as we tried to fill all of them out
> 
> Iwa: Looking at Freid Rince which was the last one we did… I can confirm they only got worse… ugh… why did I suggest to show these monstrosities? Like we can’t show ANY of the actual charatersssssssssss!!!!! Cause spoilers…
> 
> UH… just don’t judge us too hard… you may want to skip them like seriously. I already said I would so likeeeee when did I think they were remotely funny? Oh yeah… 2 am...
> 
> Before we had to show anyone?
> 
> I promise we are better at character building than this
> 
> Name: Ichiraku Ramen
> 
> Hero Name: Soupy Boi
> 
> Common Name: Ichiraku
> 
> Appearance: long and skinny like a noodle… blond hair, brown eyes, looks pale like a noodle...
> 
> Age: 17
> 
> Occupation: Student
> 
> Status: Dating
> 
> Gender: Male
> 
> Personality: Kinda a slimy boi, but kind when it matters
> 
> Family: who cares
> 
> Relationships: Curry Katsudon
> 
> Quirk: Noodle- his fingers turn into noodles that are thicker when shorter and thinner when longer. Can regrow… kinda chewy… not good for eating…
> 
> Name: Tacco Bwell
> 
> Hero Name: Does this count as Mexican?
> 
> Common Name: Tacco
> 
> Appearance: Mexican, dark back hair, beautiful chestnut eyes, and chestnut skin. Very beautiful… most popular girl in the school… but yet no one knows her outside of the third year class
> 
> Age: 17
> 
> Quirk: Saucy- Shoots sauce with varying degrees of spiciness
> 
> Name: Freid Rince
> 
> Hero Name: Carrots
> 
> Common Name: Fried
> 
> Appearance: A CARROT
> 
> Age: 17
> 
> Occupation: Student
> 
> Status: na
> 
> Sexuality: na
> 
> Gender: CARROT
> 
> Personality: CARROT
> 
> Family: CABBAGE
> 
> Relationships: NA
> 
> Quirk: CARROT- is a carrot, but like a drill


	58. Chapter 55 ~ Restaurant Wars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! We are back! By chance you did not see our announcement, with school starting up we have decided to adopt an actual consistent updating schedule whenever possible. So we will be updating every Friday unless we decide that this system needs to change. 
> 
> We are quite proud of this chapter, and hope you enjoy it!!! We love any comments we get! Thank you all so much for being patient with us!
> 
> And the probable plot holes and the overall randomness… but I guess that is to be expected at this point…

Nejire’s Cheshire cat grin shown in the surprisingly dark alleyways of the fake city as the starting announcement was given.

Haya returned her grin but it was slightly more nervous.

“Relax! We have got this!” Nejire grabbed Haya’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “Now let’s go and show everyone who is boss!” Nejire bounced down the alley, unaware of Haya’s blush as the girl followed after. 

The alley soon emptied into what looked like it would be a bustling business area if the city had been real. Instead, freshly built storefronts emptied into barren streets and sidewalks. 

“This is like a ghost town,” Haya muttered quietly.

“I’m sure some of our classmates are hiding here somewhere,” Nejire whispered back, “But it is eerie, let’s implement phase one of our plan!” Haya nodded, not that it mattered, the blue haired girl was already searching for a good place to stakeout and watch for the competition. Their entire plan basically hinged on their classmates giving themselves away.

Not long after the pair had hunkered down inside a dumpster, three students had come out of a restaurant type building.

The trio was horribly failing at being inconspicuous. From their vantage point, Haya could see the tell-tale olive skin of Oline Garnden from class 3-B. 

“I see Oline, do you remember seeing who he had teamed up with?” Haya murmured. 

“Nope! But we got this anyways! Let’s wait till they ‘sneak’ on off and then implement phase two!” Nejire said brightly, but way too loud. Haya went to shush her but Oline Garden and his team remained oblivious to their presence. Haya really hoped that they were just immensely focused on their mission and not this careless.

Shaking her head, she focused on the entryway where the three had exited, well, she tried anyways. 

Nejire was way too distracting. The sunlight made her bright eyes gleam, she was bouncing slightly as they waited, and her hair looked silky smooth. 

“Let’s go now!” Nejire said impatiently, breaking Haya out of her pinning. 

“Y-yeah!” Haya stuttered back, lifting herself out of the dumpster to follow the eager Nejire. They crept till they were pressed against the building next to the entrance. 

Looking in, Haya was again impressed by how far UA had gone to make everything realistic. The restaurant was full of tables and chairs, with flowers adorning each one. There was a hall to the left that had double doors. Haya guessed that that would lead to the kitchen of the ‘restaurant’ since it looked like stereotypical kitchen doors. 

“Well, if they have four team members, the remaining one is not in the dining room area. We should check the kitchen for them and if no one is there, just start searching for the flag.” Haya whispered and Nejire nodded. 

Haya went to the door on the left and Nejire to the right. Slowly, they pushed the doors open and steeled themselves, knowing that they were wide open to attack. 

Haya let out a grunt as she felt a force pulling her to the right and at her skin. She immediately recognised the uncomfortable feeling. 

It was Johnan Fabricas quirk.

‘ _ Well, that answered the question of if someone was in there or not.’  _ Haya thought wryly.

Haya collided with Nejire and found herself stuck. She heard a clicking sound and dove forward, pulling Nejire with her. 

Paint splatters somewhere behind them. Haya took time to assess the situation while Nejire pushed them up and started defending them from more attacks. 

Haya’s right shoulder and Nejire’s left were sewn together. There were ovens to the left, with concrete tables that would be used for preparing food in the middle, and what looked like to be refrigerating machinery to the right. 

Haya slightly shifted to the left, trying to signal Nejire to go in that direction. 

Thankfully, Nejire did not miss her hidden suggestion.

Nejire let out a more powerful blast, intent on stunning Johnan to provide them cover, and they quickly stumbled to take cover behind the tables. 

Nejire looked at Haya with a sly grin, “You got this one?” Haya nodded and the pair positioned themselves so that Haya could easily prepare to take a shot. 

Johnan had just recovered and was advancing on their cover as Haya lined up her shot and fired. 

Red paint exploded across Johnan’s forehead. Their eyes rolled back in their head and they unceremoniously crumpled to the ground. 

“Perfect shot as usual!” Nejire grinned at her causing Haya to blush.

“Let’s go and find where they put their flag before they wake up.” Haya muttered, getting ready to stand up. 

It didn’t take too long to find the flag, it was stuffed into the oven closest to the door. They hurriedly left after that, not wanting to have to deal with Johnan when they woke up. 

The piece of wood read 301 in lime green paint. As long as Temari and Shi had managed to keep their original points, the new addition left them with 839 points. 

The pair was still connected, but having dealt with Johnan’s quirk before Haya assumed the stitches binding them would be dissolving soon.  Unfortunately

Without having to speak, they started to make their way back to the hideout to deposit their newly acquired flag. 

A ball of paint nearly grazed Nejire’s face, coming from above them. 

The pair dodged in opposite directions, severing their connection. They both looked up to see Oline Garnden, Porark Cutetle, and Zenui Subway looking down at them. 

“So you guys are the ones that took out Scrapbooka and stole our flag.” Oline announced flatly.  **_(whatttt theeee heeckkkkkkkkk weeerrrreee weee thiinnnkkkiiinnnggggg_ **

**_Shinji: We probably weerrreeeennn’’ttttt)_ **

It took Haya about thirty seconds to remember that Johnan’s hero name was Scrapbooka. Nejire just looked up at them and shrugged.

“Probably.” Nejire said, Haya looked at her and rolled her eyes, reaching to grab the boa staff that was strapped to her back. Two of the team jumped down while Oline stayed up, firing paintballs. 

Unfortunately, or fortunately for Nejire and Haya, Oline was a terrible shot. His first few hits missed them by yards, and the third hit Zenui. 

“HEY!” the general studies student shouted, “WATCH WHERE YOU ARE POINTING THAT THING!” Haya snickered as she bounded forward and readied herself in a fighting stance. 

She grinned at Zenui before swirling her staff to hit his side. This pushed him into the trajectory of Porark who was about to lash out with his quirk. The pair tumbled to the ground. Nejire sent a quick blast up towards Oline and ran to grab Haya’s hand to make their getaway. 

They ran through the alley ways for a while to make sure that they were not being followed before making a beeline back to the bull that was serving as their homebase. 

**_~~~_ **

Temari watched as Nejire and Haya slunk off into the alleyways. Temari unceremoniously plopped down on the bull so that she could still see what was going on below but could be comfortable. As a bonus, it made it harder to see her from the ground. 

Soon after, Shi joined her on the ground. 

“So, we have some time, why don’t we chat?” Temari suggested, “We don’t talk a lot even though we have been in the same class forever.” Shi shrugged and gave a small nod. “So…how is your sister doing?”

“Haru is doing well, she loves her job.” Shi answered.

“What is her job?” Temari inquired.

“She is a radio host.” 

“So is our guardian! Well, at least part time anyways…” Temari trailed off.

“Oh cool.” Shi said, the pair falling into an awkward silence.

“I don’t have any sisters, just two brothers. One is insufferable, as you very well know, and the other is quiet and adorable.” Shi looked at Temari in surprise.

“You have another brother?” Shi asked intrigued. 

“Yeah! His name is Gaara!” Temari said excitedly.

“Gaara?” Shi asked, “As in the kid that was attacked at the first year festival?” and Temari winced.

“Yeah…” Temari trailed off, “He is in class 1-A!” she finished proudly.

“I guess I know less about you than I thought.” Shi sighed, looking down at her lap. Temari backpedaled.

“No! We didn’t really talk about him before, so not very many people knew about him before this year,” Temari rushed, “and besides, we both could know more about each other, we could hang out if you want? I can manage to ditch Kankuro for a bit.” Temari winced, she sounded socially awkward. 

“Ok.” Shi smiled shly, “and Kankuro isn’t insufferable.”

“You don’t live with him. Trust me on this one.” Temari said, throwing her hands in the air, “You should see his Cactus and how he treats it. He is meddlesome.” 

“That doesn’t have to be a bad thing…” Shi tried. Temari rolled her eyes.

“Ok, he can tag along too…” Temari relented, “Nejire, Tamaki, and Mirio probably will crash as well… I guess we all are a package deal…” she trailed off and her eyes widened, “Is that why you haven’t approached us before? Are we too cliquey?” Temari looks at Shi concerned who was violently shaking her head. 

“No, no, not at all! I just tend to be shy, and even in three years I haven’t really found the chance to um, just go up and start talking…” Shi tried to explain desperately.

“Oh! Well here it is!” Temari exclaimed, relieved. In hindsight, she had been way too loud with that statement because as soon as she had finished, paint splattered onto her chest.

Temari and Shi leapt to their feet. 

A spinning carrot was headed toward the base of the bull. Freid Rince of class 3-B. 

“It looks like Freid is alone.” Temari commented and Shi nodded.

“Want to distract him, and I can take him out like we planned?” Shi asked. Temari gave a scary smile in return.

“HEY FREID!” Temari shouted, and Shi winced at the sudden loud tone. 

Freid stopped spinning for a second and looked up, then immediately continued on his path. Temari realized where Freid was headed.

The legs of the bull.

She drew her fan and pressed a button on it, shifting the pattern on the fan, before chanling the wind and swinging it.

Freid goes flying straight up into the air and Shi hurries to get in position over where he would land. She drops a red milk crate, that she had fashioned, full of paint rounds unto Freid. 

Two feet above Freid’s head, Shi removes the bottom of the crate and pulls up on what remained while Temari waves her fan again, using the wind flow to direct the paint rounds unto Freid. 

Five of the seven rounds hit Freid. Anger flows off of Freid as the student spins away. 

“Freid could have still tried to get our flag, they just said anyone that got more than four shots would be out in the end, but Freid could still help out his team.” Temari muttered and Shi agreed. 

The pair sat back down and sighed. They kept a lookout for any other members of Freid’s team or any other team, but everything was calm and soon enough, Nejire and Haya could be spotted from the bull.

Shi remade the rope they had used previously and lowered it down, allowing for Nejire and Haya to climb back up. 

“What took you guys so long?” Temari inquired, raising an eyebrow at the two’s disheveled states.

“Well, we have another flag, plus we had to evade an entire team. Why do you have paint on you?” Nejire shot back. Temari huffed.

“Well, we got Freid out.” Shi said nervously and Nejire smiled at her. 

“Great!” Haya also smiled. They put the second flag in a different place than the first so that if one was found, they would not get another without more searching. 

A few more minutes passed until Yamada’s voice blasted through the speakers, “TIME IS UP! PLEASE come back to the stadium!!” Shukaku cackled as Aizawa activated his quirk on Yamada mid-sentence. Gaara was just very grateful. 

Temari also let out a snicker as they used the red rope to descend the bull with their flags. 

“We did really well!” Nejire cheered.

“That lazy shadow kid better not have done better.” Temari grumbled.

“Well, I hope our friends had success anyway!” Nejire rolled her eyes, and winked at Haya and Shi behind her. ‘I ship it’ she mouthed. 

Normally, Temari would have noticed, but the possibility of Nara doing better than her made her less focused on what was going on and more on stalking forward into the stadium. 


	59. Chapter 56 ~ Frogs, Cats, More Chickens, and The Great Cat Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> : We are also proud of this chapter. I have nothing else to say. My brain is mush. Umm hi? How are all of y’all? Ok uh, enjoy?
> 
> I do have one more thing. I just wanted to thank you all again for reading. Every time I see a comment or anything related to this fic it makes me happy even when I am having a really bad day. So thank you all.

**LAST TIME WITH Kankuro, Miro, Tamaki and Nara**

**_I MOVED THE ENTIRETY OF LAST CHAPTER INTO THE MIDDLE OF THIS ONEEEEEE IT WASN’T JUST PART OF IT XD… Hey it is a new computer… give me some time to get used to it… or to get a mouse… either way…_ **

Kankuro snickered as he saw who was in fortieth, as he knew that Temari would be annoyed. Nejire’s Cheshire cat grin shown in the surprisingly dark alleyways of the fake city as the starting announcement was given.

He turned to where he knew Mirio was and pointed a finger gun at him grinning in a silent question. 

Mirio was already headed over to him, a matching grin on his face, Tamaki shadowing behind him. 

Once all three of them were together, Kankuro spoke up, “So, who else is thinking we need one more member?” Mirio nodded.

“Did you have anyone in mind? Mirio asked, wondering if they were on the same page, as Kankuro nodded.

“Our resident strategist in Class 3-B, the man our dear Temari hates, Nara.” Kankuro confirmed.

“He is a really good choice for this event.” Tamaki said softly and they all agreed. 

“Now, let's go and find him before someone snatches him!” Kankuro declared, and they headed off to do just that. 

It didn’t take too long to find Nara, as they assumed where he would be, sitting against the stadium walls. Nara raised his hand in greeting.

“I figured that you were going to seek me out again this year, Lemillion.” Nara smirked.

“Well you know the saying, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it!” Mirio smiled, “So what do you say?” Mirio held out a hand to the boy on the ground, “You in?” Nara took it.

“Let’s get started then.” 

**_~~~_ **

As they received their flag, they knew that their point total wouldn't be the highest because of Nara coming in last place.

Their flag read 237 in neon blue. 

“We will more than double this total, I just know it!” Mirio shined. Tamaki turned his face from the brightness. 

“Yeah!” Kankuro cheered, turning toward the entrance (or exit if you think about it) of the course, “Let’s go!” Nara sighed and started shambling to the next event, while Mirio seemed to bounce and Tamaki was just slouching. 

“So!” Mirio began, slowing down so that he was now walking side-by-side with Nara, “I was thinking that you and Tamaki would be best suited to keep our flag safe, while Kankuro and I go and capture them! What do you think though? You are the strategist.” They had just entered the city and were now walking down the main street.

“I was also thinking of pairing off like that. I was also thinking about the rules.” Nara smirked, “The way they worded it most people are going to be going back to their hideouts in between each capture, if they manage to capture any at all.” Mirio looked at him confused.

“But isn’t that a rule? Why wouldn’t they do that?” 

“No. They never specified that the flags had to immediately be returned…” Kankuro said, realizing where Nara was going with this.

“They only said that the flags had to be back at the base when time was called for them to count.” Nara finished and Kankuro grinned. Mirio let out a laugh.

“Do you have a place in mind?” Mirio asked and Nara nodded.

“Yes. I figured that the course was not just for the first event when I saw how intricate everything was so I explored the city.” Kankuro looked at him in shock while Mirio just laughed again. Tamaki was still slouched. “Since you guys sought me out for your team, I think we should go with the mailbox I found near the cafe.”

“Mailbox?” Kankuro blinked and Nara nodded. 

“Mirio can phase through the box and put the flag inside.” Nara explained.

“Couldn’t we just like, put the flag through the hole? Besides, it would be really easy for someone to just break into it.” Kankuro asked.

“The mailboxes’ slits are extremely small, meant for just appearance purposes and not actually for mail. However, they are hollow so we can still use them and yes, mailboxes are easy to break into but no one will know to look there.”

“Why not? Didn’t you agree that you and Tamaki would guard the flag?” Mirio asked, confused.

“The rules don’t say that we have to guard the actual flag. We will be guarding the cafe near the mailbox, making everyone assume that the flag is in the cafe.” Nara grinned maniacally, “Not that we would need to worry about losing the flag in the first place, but it is good to always be overly cautious.”

“That is a solid plan.” Tamaki said softly. 

“Alrighty! Lead the way!” Mirio announced brightly and Nara led them further into the city.

Once the flag had been deposited in the mailbox, they headed to set up in the cafe.

When they entered the cafe, Tamaki’s eyes lit up. 

Cats came to the door as they opened it and entered. 

“Of course they would make a cat cafe.” Nara said flatly.

“Well at least we know that the cats aren't real so we don’t have to worry about them getting caught in the crossfire.” Mirio observed, affectionately staring at Tamaki, who was now petting the cats that weren’t cats.

Kankuro’s forehead scrunched together in thought.

“Have you ever eaten a cat before? I bet you would look funny and adorable with cat ears.” Tamaki looked at Kankuro with pure mortification.

“NO!” Tamaki shouted.

“Asking Tamaki to eat a cat or a butterfly would be like asking you to eat your cactus, you know this.” Mirio scolded Kankuro as he pet Tamaki’s head reassuringly.

“I know, sorry…” Kankuro muttered, hiding a smirk. 

“Good luck to all of you, and the clock starts now, you have thirty minutes!” Midnight cheered.

“Ok I will be keeping track of the time here, but we will need a way to communicate so you know to head back.” Nara stated.

“What weird trick are you going to use to keep track of time?” Kankuro raised an eyebrow. Nara pointed behind Kankuro who looked behind him to see a clock. “That makes sense. As for letting us know, I think we can use one of my puppets… although we would have to be careful about how far we traveled from the cafe.” Nara nodded.

“If you are talking about Tamaki and I severing your connection when let’s say twenty minutes have passed, then I agree. However, we should hurry up. Time is ticking away.” Kankuro quickly pulled a wooden lucky cat out of one of his many pockets and attached his quirk to it. 

With that done, Mirio and Kankuro quickly wished the pair luck and headed out to capture flags. 

**_~~~_ **

“Well…” Kankuro began, “where are we going first?” Mirio’s face contorted in thought.

“I don’t know, I guess we could just walk down the street!” Mirio suggested, scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, it’s not like I have a better idea.” Kankuro shrugged and started walking down the main street.

By some odd stroke of luck, or just the fact that they were walking in plain sight, a paintball was headed toward Mirio. 

Mirio noticed at the last second and the paintball went through him. Unfortunately, Kankuro was standing too close to Mirio and was now covered in yellow paint.

“HEY!” Kankuro shouted, with a pout. Mirio pats Kankuro on the shoulder in apology, and turns in the direction the paint ball came from. 

There was another paintball headed straight toward them. Mirio phased again, but this time Kankuro was ready and dodged out of the way. 

There was a single student protecting what looked to be a dumpster. The single student was Jiraiya. 

Suddenly it made sense why they were suddenly attacked instead of the team doing nothing, leaving Mirio and him unaware that a flag could be in the vicinity. 

Jiraiya loved to stir things up no matter the consequences. If it meant having fun or causing trouble, he didn’t care if he lost.

“Great.” Kankuro said sarcastically. Thankfully, Jiraiya seemed to be alone, and his reload speed was incredibly slow. 

Mirio immediately ran towards Jiraiya, forcing the boy to drop his gun and activate his quirk, going into Sage Mode.

It was like the rest of the world didn’t exist after that, well Kankuro at least. Mirio and Jiraiya fought often, both using the advantages the other had to better themselves. Kankuro wasn’t worried though, Mirio had a pretty good winning ratio against Jiraiya, besides there was nothing really for him to do. 

Interrupting their fight would just be plain rude so Kankuro took a seat on the concrete and watched the pair fight. 

It got boring after ten seconds.

Kankuro fought the urge to pull out his phone, that he shouldn’t even have-but what if his baby bro needed him or something?- and would definitely be disqualified if he was caught with it out. 

So he just sat and watched as Mirio phased through the ground for the dozenth time and Jiraiya threw his thirtieth power punch. 

Lucky for Kankuro, Mirio’s next hit landed, knocking Jiraiya out. 

Kankuro stood up and brushed off the non-existent dirt on his costume, “What took you so long?” 

“Fighting a formidable opponent. Did you happen to find the flag while we were fighting?” Mirio answered brightly. Kankuro’s expression turned nervous.

“Uhh… you see…” Kankuro gestured in the general direction Jiriaya came from. Mirio laughed.

“Well let’s see if he was guarding a flag or going to capture one.”

The pair searched in the area and found a macaroni and cheese colored number that read 212, in a dumpster.

“It’s like they just…” Mirio said, “threw it away.” Kankuro sighed and started to continue back down the path when Mirio stopped him.

“Guess what I found when I was phasing through the ground?” Mirio asked.

“What?” Kankuro asked.

“A fake sewer system and a grey flag!” Mirio showed him the flag. It only was worth 137 points, but that was 137 that they didn’t have before. Kankuro smiled and put the two flags into his kangaroo puppet.

The two continued on their way until they came across a park.

“We should go check it out!” Mirio cheered and Kankuro agreed. It was the only thing that looked different for the next couple of blocks, and different was good right?

The park was like everything else in this fake city. Beyond Plus Ultra. It was like the school had no idea how to not go overboard.

It was a beautiful park, with flowers lining the walkways, stone benches periodically placed, cherry trees in full bloom populated the park and a tree house was a part of the largest tree in the park.

The tree house was literally a part of the tree, with branches sewn together to make walls. Kankuro spotted movement in the treehouse window and nudged Mirio, pointing to the tree house.

Mirio nodded and looked around the treehouse. There was a chicken wandering around the area of the treehouse and although chickens were a part of the course, a fact proven by Tamaki, Mirio assumed that this particular chicken was Poppy Eynes. 

So there were at least two people that they would have to take down to get to this flag.

“Ok do we have a plan? Something stealthy or just go in, guns blazing?” Kankuro asked quietly. 

“Well we totally could try and take out Poppy with the paintball guns, that would definitely alert whomever else is here of our presence.” Mirio mused.

“It’s a saying!” Kankuro groaned, “So? Should we? Or I can send Black Ant to attack her with the chemical to paralyze her, a more subtle approach?” 

“Great idea!” Mirio gave him a thumbs up. 

Kankuro unstrapped Black Ant from his back and activated his quirk. 

He sent it scuttling around the tree so that Poppy wouldn’t see it before she was struck. Black Ant was in position and stabbed upward to where Poppy would be. 

The image of the chicken flickered, revealing a girl standing rigidly, before violently twitching and collapsing. 

“Well, I guess we are making our move now!” Mirio took the same path that Black Ant did while Kankuro stayed hidden, servaling in case there was another student not in the treehouse. 

The student revealed themself when Mirio was climbing the ladder. 

A throwing star made of orange paper stuck into Mirio’s hero costume, but he didn’t slow down. At the top of the ladder, Bibimi was about to pour a bucket of something that looked like metal marbles.

Kankuro decided that Mirio could deal with Bibimi on his own and started searching for the place where Hobbie Lonard was cowardly hiding. 

**_~~~_ **

To say that Tamaki was anxious with the current situation would be an understatement.

He was alone with Nara, someone he barely knew and had no idea what to expect from, and he could be attacked at any second.

Nara seemed to share none of those concerns, sinking down into one of the comfortable coral colored lounging chairs that peppered the cafe. 

Tamaki blinked at him and looked down at the cats that were running around the place. He decided to sit on the floor right where he had been currently standing, not knowing what else to do. 

“I wish we were outside or something, this is already a drag.” Nara sighed. Tamaki looked at him as if he had suddenly got a second quirk.

‘How could Nara be so relaxed’ Tamaki complained to himself, “I wish Mirio were here.” 

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to know why you two aren’t dating. Like you are practically attached at the hip.” Nara inquired. 

Tamaki coughed, realizing in embarrassment that he said that part aloud, then grew impossibly red when he processed Nara’s inquiry.

“N-n-no!” Tamaki stuttered, scrambling to get as close to a wall as possible, “I-It’s not l-like that! Mirio is t-too bright…” Nara raised an eyebrow, not that Tamaki would see it.

“If you say so.” Nara rolled his eyes and the pair fell into silence again. 

Nara didn’t try to start a conversation again, and for that Tamaki was grateful. Tamaki was petting one of the cats when a knock sounded on the cafe door. 

Nara sent a look at the door that said ‘really?’ and turned to face the door.

“Come on in, we are open.” Nara announced sarcastically. The door doesn't open.

Instead, the liquid that had ‘snuck’ it’s way under the door reformed into Timu Hortanes, or the Caffeine Hero, Doughnut. 

As soon as she was reformed, she turned her hand to coffee and shot it at Tamaki, who responded by jumping to the side and forming clam hands. 

She sent a blast toward his head and he ducked and rolled towards her the best he could, considering the fact he had clam hands, and then used those hands to attack her.

Timu turned the part of her that was about to be crushed into coffee, but that was what Tamaki was counting on. The clam trapped a good portion of her body mass causing her to be stuck as a liquid unable to completely reform.

Tamaki took this time to grab his paintball gun as she struggled to keep herself up, and shoot her three times with it. 

“Dang it!” Timu groaned, sinking to the ground, giving up. 

“I’m sorry.” Tamaki said, immediately feeling guilty. Timu smiled up at him

“Don’t worry about it! It was a fun fight, do you have any feedback for me?”

“Well first of all, do not knock on the door before breaking in, what kinda idiot does that?” Nara spoke up.  **_(Itachi, All Might… we are looking at you…)_ **

“Don’t be mean…” Tamaki muttered going back to his space on the wall.

“Yeah! I was finally having a proper conversation with him for the first time in three years, now look what you’ve done! You caused the poor bean to go to the wall!” Timu pouted angrily.

“Eh. Just stick around till Mirio gets back, that will solve that problem. Man, this is such a drag.” Nara groaned, lying back in the chair. Timu shrugged and plopped down in a chair the furthest away from Nara she could get while still being relatively close to Tamaki. 

Nara opened an eye to glance at the clock, “Hey Tamaki?”

“Yeah?” Tamaki mumbled into the wall.

“Will you sever the connection, it’s time for them to come back.” Nara yawned, crossing his legs on a nearby table. 

Tamaki did as he was asked and he went back to the wall but sat down this time. ‘Please let this be over soon.’ Tamaki begged, pressing up against the wall.

**_~~~_ **

Kankuro spotted the source of the orange paper. Hobbie Lonard. Kankuro smiled. This was going to be fun.

Hobb was one of the few people left in their year that Kankuro had a problem with. He would gladly take this opportunity to beat him up. 

It wasn’t as epic as Kankuro was hoping. 

Kankuro was still controlling Black Ant so he had it go behind Hobb and open it’s chest. It’s arms reached out with a flick of Kankuro’s fingers and trapped him inside. A muffled shout rang out, but his other team members were either busy with Mirio or paralized. 

Kankuro left Black Ant and Hobb to go and see how Mirio was doing. 

Yakina Soba was currently making her way back up to the treehouse, seemingly having been knocked off, and Mirio was fighting Bibimi.

Kankuro was about to make a move to attack Yakina when he felt the pain that came from severing his connection unwillingly.

Seeing as Hobb was still inside Black Ant, he assumed that it was time to go.

“Hey Mirio!” Kankuro shouted, “Hurry up!” Mirio gave him a thumbs up and phased through Bibimi, then back again, now with something that Kankuro assumed was a flag in his hand. 

Mirio phased out of the treehouse then ran towards Kankuro, who was currently getting ready to dump Hobb out of Black Ant. 

Seeing Mirio approaching him, he opened the chest cavity while Black Ant was upside down, sending Hobb to the ground with a curse coming from the boy. 

As they were running, Kankuro turned around and gave a small wave, a satisfied smirk on his face.

When they had just gotten to the mailbox, Present Mic’s voice rang out, “TIME IS UP! PLEASE come back to the stadium!!” Kankuro felt bad for Gaara.

“Well that was calling it close.” Nara’s voice came out from behind the mailbox. He was lying on the ground looking up at the sky. 

“Well we kinda got caught up…” Kankuro sighed, “But it was worth it!” He pulled the three flags out of Kangaroo and presented them to the team. 

Tamaki had been sitting near Nara but was now right next to Mirio, Timu had begrudgingly left when Nara had started quizzing her about why she wasn’t going to meet with her team. 

Mirio phased and grabbed their original flag from the mailbox, then they all started to make their way back to the stadium. 

**_~~~_ **

Midnight was standing in the middle of the field with a lot of people surrounding her, so they assumed that that is where they turned in their flags.

They wandered over to the crowd and got into what they assumed was some sort of line. 

Midnight gave them a thumbs up and a smile when Mirio handed their flags over, waiving them off to wait for the announcement to see who made it to the final round.

“Uh oh.” Kankuro suddenly said, “Nara, you mayyyyy wanna make yourself scarce…” 

“What?” Nara asked from where he had decided to lie down.

“Temari is coming over here.” Kankuro gestured over to the direction where his sister was currently stalking over to them, the rest of her team hurriedly following her. 

Nara let out an audible sigh and crossed his arms over his head.

Tamaki’s expression begged for an escape from the inevitable drama that was about to occur. He had already met his maximum for social interaction today, and he really did not want to deal with this particular land mine. 

“You!” Temari raged, finally coming in range, “How DARE you use my friends to carry you to the third round! You won’t even try there so what is the-”

“Temari.” Kankuro sighed, his tone bored as if they’ve had this conversation before, “Nara designed the entirety of the plan,” That may be an exaggeration but he needed to get the point across, “and he helped us secure three more flags. So tell us again how he did nothing?” Temari stabbed him with her eyes, then turned that piercing glare at Nara and huffed. 

“Fine.” Temari grumbled and crossed her arms. 

Tamaki just sighed and wondered when they would both just get together so he didn’t have to deal with Temari picking fights with Nara anymore. 

Although, now that he thought about it, if they got together Nara would just be around more and that was something that Tamaki wasn’t sure about. Plus their couply things would just remind him that he would be forever alone. 

Well, it wasn’t up to him and he would suffer either way, Tamaki decided.

“THE SCORES ARE INNNNNNNNNNNN!” Yamada screeched over the speakers, “IT IS TIME TO FIND OUT WHO WILL BE ADVANCING TO THE FINAL ROUND FOR THIS YEAR’S THIRD YEAR CLASS’ LAST SPORT’S FESTIVAL!!!!!!!” 

“Could you have made that any less confusing?” Aizawa’s annoyed voice could be heard.

“YES I VERY WELL COULD MY BANDAGED FRIEND!” Yamada announced, “BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE TEAMS WITH THE HIGHEST SCORES HAVING DISQUALIFIED MEMBERS, WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO PASSED INSTEAD OF JUST THE TEAM NAME! NOW WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, THE FINALISTS!” The stadium screen turned on and a numbered list of sixteen blanks showed up. “TIED FOR FOURTH PLACE, TEAM TACCO BWELL AND JOHNAN FABRICAS! THE MEMBERS THAT PASSED ARE TACCO BWELL AND ICHIRAKU RAMEN FROM TACCO BWELL’S TEAM, AND PORARK CUTLETLE AND OLINE GARNDEN FROM JOHNAN FABRICAS’ TEAM!” Present Mic paused while the names showed up on the screen, “IN THIRD PLACE, BENNY HANKURO’S TEAM AND ALL OF THEM WILL BE ADVANCING!” It was now Kankuro’s turn to feel petty fury and Temari’s to be the one laughing, “IN SECOND PLACE, ALL OF THEM ALSO ADVANCING, TEMARI’S TEAM WITH 839 POINTS!!”  **_(doesn’t announce point totals for any other team before this… is Yamada showing blatant favoritism or are the authors just lazy? You will never know.)_ ** Temari now looked very competitive, sizing up the entirety of Mirio’s team and Tamaki was very uncomfy, “AND IN FIRST PLACE! MIRIO’S TEAM WITH A TOTAL OF 875 POINTS, JUST A MERE 36 OVER THE SECOND PLACE SCORERS!!” Yamada finished, cheering into the mic. 

Temari’s glare intensified as Yamada began speaking again, although this time with a substantially quieter volume, “Now everyone gets an hour for lunch, and then we will meet right back here for the one on one fights!” Kankuro pumped a fist in the air. 

Lunch break ment that he could check on Gaara… and eat food of course. 

Kankuro turned toward Temari, “Let’s go find Gaara!” Temari rolled her eyes.

“Of course.” Temari nodded, “But maybe we should eat, Kankuro, we have battles coming up, you know. We can see Gaara after the festival. He is being taken care of.” Kankuro deflated and resigned himself to just texting his adorable brother.

“GAARA IS HERE?!” Nejire gasped, “WE-” 

“No. We are going to go and eat our lunch.” Temari interrupted, grabbing Kankuro and Nejire’s hands, intent on keeping them captive. She turned to the rest of the group, “You guys can join us! Kankuro made enough food to feed an army.” Mirio picked up Tamaki, who had been sulking, and followed after Temari waiving for the others to join. 

By some miracle, Haya, Shi, and even Nara started to follow the group. 

Food was a great way to make friends. 

**_~~~_ **

Gaara had grossly miscalculated the amount of things he needed to occupy himself for the sports festival. 

He had run out of books before the first event was even over and he wasn’t being allowed to leave the room on his own in case that he could be attacked. He couldn’t even text anyone because Shinso was being watched and Midoriya was too engrossed in studying the third years like they were lab specimens in a lab, as Shukaku put it, whom he was also ignoring because he had made one too many annoying comments.

Aizawa was struggling to stay awake, the only reason he wasn’t napping was his parakeet of a husband, another Shukaku phrase, and Aizawa was looking more irritable by the second.

Even the cats looked bored, but they were sleeping and that was something cats did a lot, so Gaara had no real proof to back that up.

And the only thing stopping Gaara from throwing Yamada through the glass was the fact that Shukaku would take great satisfaction with that and also make fun of him for an apparent habit of throwing people.

Five minutes into the second event, Gaara decided to encase himself in a sand cocoon. This was moderately entertaining, as he could build small sandcastles inside and was a slight relief from Yamada’s loudness.

He stayed in there the rest of the event and throughout the place announcements, although he tried to make himself ear plugs to block out Yamada’s senseless screaming. 

If Gaara understood correctly, the thing Yamada was speaking into was supposed to amplify your voice, so why did he feel the need to yell into it making Gaara’s head ache?

When Yamada announced lunch, his voice was quiet, Gaara wondered what Aizawa did to him for a brief second before shrugging, Gaara lit up at the prospect of possibly being allowed to leave the stark room. 

Aizawa had noticed that Gaara had been getting restless as time went on, and he admitted, so was he. 

Thankfully, they could leave and eat lunch before having to return to this prison.

“Hizashi.” Aizawa said, deathly calm, “Hurry up and finish what you are doing or we will leave you here.” Yamada dropped his headset and scrambled to the door.

“Done!” Yamada chirped, “Let’s go get some grub!” Aizawa groaned.

“Please never use that word again.” Aizawa face palmed, and Gaara nodded, although he wasn’t quite sure what the problem was. 

Gaara had just decided to agree with whatever Aizawa said when it came to Yamada after the whole Queen fiasco. 

Yamada just grinned at them and opened the door. As they walked out, none of them remembered that there were two cats in the room as well.

**_~~~_ **

Aizawa steeled himself as he opened the door to the designated staff break room. 

If Aizawa had any luck, Nemuri or that annoying twig Toshinori wouldn’t be there. 

Unfortunately, Aizawa had absolutely no luck as BOTH Nemuri and Toshinori were in the room.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at Toshinori, not knowing that Gaara was doing the same thing, albeit for different reasons. 

Nemuri noticed, however, and was cackling because of it.

“Ah! Aizawa, Yamada, and young Gaara!” Toshinori greeted, “How are you-” 

“We are going to eat lunch, and we only have a limited time to do so.” Aizawa cut him off.

“Shooooooooo” Yamada warned, “Behave!” 

“How is staying with Aizawa and Yamada going, young Gaara?” All Might asked and Gaara just shrugged.

“Have you not heard?” Nemuri spoke up, having recovered from her laughing, “Yamada and Aizawa are adopting the siblings! Isn’t it great!” Aizawa decided that today was just not his day.

“Really? That is great news!” Toshinori cheered.

“Yeah! The Adoption ™ will be finalized on Friday and we are throwing a party on Saturday! You should totally come!” Nemari informed him and Toshinori looked nervous.

“Well I wouldn’t want to impose-” Toshinori started, he wasn’t dumb, he knew that Aizawa really didn’t like him, in fact not a lot of people liked him as a teacher, but he was trying his best to be better.

“Nonsense!” Yamada cut Toshinori off for the second time that day, “You are totally invited! In fact the entire staff is!” Aizawa sent him a panicked look that was purposely ignored by both Yamada and Nemari. 

“ _ This is great.”  _ Shukaku said, munching on popcorn, “ _ Like, this is the most entertaining thing that has happened all day. I wish I had popco- oh wait I do!”  _ Gaara snorted and rolled his eyes. 

Aizawa pushed further into the room to go and grab the bento boxes they had made, they being Kankuro, the night before. He sat at the table and Gaara followed suit, opening the box while Yamada was still chatting with Nemuri. 

“Are you going to come and eat or are you just going to talk the entire time or are you going to eat. You wouldn’t want what Kankuro made you to go to waste, right?” Aizawa sighed.

“I guess we have to party plan later, Nemuri!” Yamada apologized, moving to sit at the table with his husband and Gaara. 

Gaara was done with what he would eat, Aizawa had drunk his weird jelly pouch thing, and Yamada was about halfway done when their peace was suddenly disrupted. 

A sudden yelp **_(someone needs to limit my uses of ™ )_ ** from Toshinori had all three of them looking up just in time to see a black flash go out the door.

“Was that?” Yamada asked.

“Mustachio.” Aizawa confirmed, grimly. 

“A cat just stole my rice ball!” Toshinori said, more shocked than upset. He was staring at the door as if he couldn’t believe what happened.

“Uh, why is your guys’ cat at the Sports Festival?” Nemuri inquired, eyebrows raised. Aizawa raised two hands to show his innocence.

“Don’t look at me!” Yamada denied. 

Everyone turned to stare at Gaara.

“It’s not my fault. They were in my bag when I got here.” Gaara muttered.

“Wait, they?” Nemari wondered, and if she had summoned him, Ink rolled past the staff room door and Aizawa let out a sharp sigh.

“I completely forgot they were in the room with us because I was so ready to get out of there.” Aizawa said, angrily, standing up.

Yamada realized what Aizawa was about to do, “Now, Sho! You are not fully healed yet, don’t you dare-” But it was too late, Aizawa was out the door with Gaara following him. 

Ink was easy to catch up to, he wasn’t very fast, especially in an area he wasn’t familiar with, and Aizawa scooped him up and put him in his scarf. 

Gaara sent out his sand to try and snake under the cat and grab him up, but the cat jumped dodging into a vent.

“YOU!” Aizawa panted- he really should have ignored Recovery Girl and Yamada and exercised despite their warnings- when he noticed a janitor who looked at him with terror, “Do you know where this vent goes?” The janitor nodded quickly and gave them directions.

**_~~~_ **

Kankuro had did as he was asked, he was eating his food and not going to find his adorable brother, but he was getting worried as Gaara had still not texted him back. 

He even texted the family chat to see if anyone else would answer and no one did. 

“Temari, what if-” Kankuro started for the fourth time in the last five minutes.

“I already told you, everything is probably fine, they are just eating lunch or something.” Temari said worriedly, as if she was trying to convince herself. 

“Yeah Kankuro!” Mirio smiled, trying to cheer him up, “It’s probably like Temari said.” 

“What’s the big deal with him not answering right away anyways?” Nara asked from where he was playing with his food. Temari looked at him offended.

“Our brother was attacked two days ago in the middle of the Sports Festival by an OUTSIDE party.” Temari emphasised outside so the boy didn’t say something like ‘isn’t that the whole point’ or something. 

“Oh. Then why is he here?” Nara asked.

“Because.” Temari seethed.

“Why don’t you go check on him then if you are that worried.” Nara suggested and Kankuro gestured towards him.

“That’s what I have been saying from the beginning!” Kankuro whined and Temari huffed.

“Fine. Let’s go check on them.” Temari decided, not that she had to be convinced by that point as she was also worried.

Just as everyone stood up, except Nara, the makeshift cafetera suddenly grew silent as a black streak went through the halls with Aizawa and Gaara hot on his tail. 

“Was that-” Kankuro was cut off as Yamada’s voice covered up everything else.

“SHOTA! GAARA! GET BACK HERE! THIS IS NOT! SAFE!! MUSTACHIO! IF YOU DON’T STOP RUNNING, I WILL BAKE YOU INTO A PIE!!!!!” Yamada screamed.

A few seconds after Yamada came racing by, Nemuri followed soon after with a cellphone raised up.

They all stared down the hall in shock. 

“Well, that answers that question.” Kankuro said, shaking his head in disappointment, but not surprised. 

“Uh, I am just going to take that as everything is fine because I definitely do NOT want to be in the middle of that mess.” Temari stated, turning back to her lunch and sitting down. 

Everyone except Kankuro, Mirio and Tamaki looked very confused, but they all sat back down and got back to their lunches anyways.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara and Aizawa caught up with Mustachio in one of the preparation rooms.

He had stopped to eat his acquired rice ball when he was rudely interrupted by Gaara picking him up. 

Aizawa was bent over panting, and Ink slipped out of his scarf, once again free.

Ink’s newfound freedom was short-lived however, as Yamada scooped him up before turning to face Aizawa and Gaara.

“SHOTA! I SWEAR! YOU! I! GAARA! STOP! WHAT! CAT! MUSTACHIO!” Yamada sputtered out.

“Who knows,” Aizawa panted, “What that cat… could have… done. If we didn’t… catch him.” Yamada paused as if thinking for a second.

“True.” He concluded, “But you are still injured and Gaara, you could be a target. I could have gone on my own.”

“And when has that cat ever obeyed you? He may have realized it was you and become more evasive out of spite.” Aizawa refuted, “Plus, I am basically healed.”

“True…. He would have… and you still haven’t been cleared for hero work… but I guess nothing happened.” Yamada sighed, he wasn’t angry in the first place, just concerned.

“We should probably get these troublemakers back to the room before they manage to escape again.” Aizawa grunted and Yamada nodded chuckling.

“Well that was interesting.” Nemuri said from the doorway. 

Aizawa sent a death glare at Nemuri and the phone she was holding.

“Hey. If you don’t want to be recorded, don’t do anything hilarious.” Nemuri shrugged and Aizawa sighed yet again. 


	60. Chapter 57 ~ The Brackets ™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pure serotonin ™
> 
> I need to stop ™
> 
> Oof that just gave me more opportunity to ™
> 
> Oof ™
> 
> Heyyyyyy… so uh…. The ending of this chapter wasn’t supposed to be that angsty but…. Uh… I have no excuse other than I am Anxiety Gremlin ™ and it wrote itself. So yeah. I mean both of us writers are Anxiety Gremlin ™ s… we need t-shirts or something… I blame school for this occurrence… But enjoy!!! We are really proud of this one just like the last three? Is it three now? It’s so much harder to keep track of the chapters like this. We are also starting a new doc for next chapter so our chaos quotes ™ we thought were funny are included at the end!! (back to the end we go to clean this up and transfer)
> 
> I also really hate my Spanish class… just wanna rant… and my AP literature
> 
> Thanks for everything! If ya feel like it, leave a comment! I have no life XD
> 
> p.s. There is weird random info at the end cause it is the end of a doc

Temari thanked fate that everyone was still shocked by what had happened so they were not asking neither her nor Kankuro any questions because frankly, she really didn’t want to open that can of worms.

She was also glad that lunch had been nearly over when The Great Cat Chase, because that had clearly been Mustachio, happened and they all had to head to their seats in the stadium.

Due to the fact that the announcers were most definitely not in the sound booth, the matchups were not released when they normally would have, so no one knew who would be up first.

Of course it was Temari. 

And by some weird twist, she was going up against another twin, Benny Hankuro of Support Class 3-F. 

Temari had nothing against the boy but Kankuro held a grudge over his twin Greg for something back in their first year that bled over to Benny. 

It’s been two years already, Temari would have thought that Kankuro would have gotten over it by now.  **_(*facepalms*)_ **

All of her interactions with Benny had been awkward, but he seemed like a really down to earth and kind person. What he did with his quirk was also amazing. He designed the most gorgeous ice sculptures with Frost Fingers. 

His quirk wasn’t suited to Support but he didn’t need it. Benny was extremely smart but also socially awkward.

Temari was beginning to think that this was a stereotype with geniuses due to her brother also proving to be the same way. 

‘ _ Maybe he wouldn’t if you-’ _ Temari shut down her negative thinking before she could go and feel guilty again, ‘ _ even though it was my-’ _

Temari shoved open the preparation room door with far more force than was necessary, stalking over to the table and taking a seat on the chair there.

When someone came to go get her, they noticed her bad mood and felt bad for the poor student that would be facing her. 

“FOR OUR FIRST ONE ON ONE FIGHT OF TODAY, WE HAVE THE SUPPORT STUDENT WITH A SHY AND KIND DISPOSITION, DESPITE HIS QUIRK BEING AS COLD AS ICE, BENNY HANKURO!” Yamada screamed, punching the air, “AND HIS OPPONENT, CLASS 3-A HERO STUDENT HERE TO BLOW YOU AWAY, FUJIN; THE WIND SHRIKE HERO!” Temari stepped out onto the field as the audience cheered. 

Like always, there was a large crowd, but Temari knew that in that crowd were dozens more pro heroes than ever before. Both because they were third years and would soon be going out to become sidekicks, but also because her baby brother had been attacked two days previously. 

She had been surprised when both the second year festival and the third year festival had continued as scheduled, not because she was worried for the safety of the participants, but because there was next to no public outcry about it.

When the USJ happened, the press had been all over the heroes for doing a terrible job protecting the students, but now because this event made a lot of money for the press, no one was questioning the heroes’ decision. 

She was glad that her brother wasn't getting the attention but she was also mad at the press. She was beginning to think she needed anger management… although not as much as that pomeranian kid in her brother’s class. 

Temari listened to Midnight’s instructions feeling bored. They were just a formality at this point since they have been the same since the first sport’s festival. 

Benny looked really nervous as she turned to him and Midnight signaled for the fight to start. 

Benny reached for something behind his back, but before he could pull it out, Temari was swinging her fan and sending Benny flying out of the arena.

She winced as Benny hit the stadium wall, and as Midnight declared her the winner, she rushed over to help him up.

She reached out her hand and he took it gratefully, although hesitantly. 

“Thanks.” Benny nodded and Temari smiled. 

“Yup! Anytime!” Temari walked him over to where Recovery Girl was set up to get checked out before waving to the two of them and walking out of the stadium.

She walked all the way to where her class was supposed to be sitting and was greeted with her friends waving her over. 

“Hey!” Mirio cheered, “Great job!” Tamaki gave her a small smile and gave a thumbs up. Kankuro clapped her on the back and Nejire pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

“Hey!” Temari complained, “It’s just the first round!” and they all rolled their eyes. Kankuro opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Present Mic.

“FOR THE SECOND MATCH, WE HAVE THE 3-B STUDENT WITH A SLIPPERY PERSONALITY, FETTUCCINE ALFREDO!” Present Mic screamed while Kankuro snickered. 

“I still can’t believe that he chose that name.” Kankuro laughed and received an elbow to the gut for his rude comment.

“AND HIS OPPONENT, ALSO FROM 3-B, THE KING OF THE SHADOWS THAT CAN BE FOUND TAKING A NAP OR PLAYING SHOGI WITH THE PRINCIPAL, SHIKA!” 

Temari’s face turns sour as the match begins. 

Nara immediately takes something out of his pocket and places it on the ground. 

Oline looked warily at Nara as he stood far away, even though there were no shadows but their own in sight. 

After they both stand there for a few minutes, Nara having taken a seat on the ground, Oline shoots a spray of olive oil at the ground and makes a run to attack Nara. 

Nara immediately struck a match, sending the tiny hot air balloon into the air, before throwing the match into the oddly flammable olive oil.

The sudden hot air sends the balloon up into the air faster, Nara quickly grabbing a hold of its shadow and then Oline’s. 

Nara yawns before moving to the edge of the ring, and doing a backflip, knowing that Oline’s larger body will land outside of the ring. 

He lets go of the shadow halfway, and as he lands he hears Midnight declare his victory.

Nara slumped over and lazily shambled out of the stadium. 

“There he goes again!” Temari said furiously, “He could have just judo flipped Oline out, I have seen it before, I know he can! But no! He goes and has to be all unnecessary extra about it!” Kankuro sighed before trying to explain to her the puzzle that was Nara.

“Look. He has told you before.” Kankuro deadpanned, “He does whatever he deems less work. Besides, isn’t this way so much cooler!” 

“That’s not a word.” Temari huffed.

“Yes it is.” Kankuro refuted.

“Not in that way.”

“Well-” Kankuro snaps.

“Guys! Shi is up next, let’s watch her!” Nejire tried, but the bickering continued until Present Mic’s loud voice made it so they could not hear each other’s refutes.

“IN CLASS 3-B, A HERO THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT AN IM-PASTA, SOUPY BOI!” 

“Mirio. Have you been giving Present Mic puns?” Nejire asked.

“Nope! He came up with that Trofie pun all on his own!” Mirio said, cheekily. Temari groaned, putting her head in her hands.

“AGAINST HIM, WE HAVE FROM CLASS 3-A, THE RED BIRD THAT ALWAYS GETS THE WORM, CARDINAL!” Kankuro groaned and turned to Temari.

“Is it too late to change our decision?” he asked her. Mirio laughed and Nejire just looked confused, “Ok, tell me how it goes when I get back!” Kankuro mumbled, heading off to go get ready for his match. 

“You got this bro!” Temari cheered, turning back to the match.

This fight lasted longer, but Shi eventually was able to convert her staff into a whip, wrapping around Ichiraku’s legs and pulling him so that he fell out of the ring.

Midnight acknowledged Shi’s victory, who was shyly going to help her opponent up. 

“That girl is too pure.” Nejire commented and Haya agreed. She had been convinced to go sit with Nejire and the rest of her friends.

“NOW, IN A WEIRD TWIST, WE HAVE THE BROTHERS OF THE TWINS THAT FOUGHT IN THE FIRST ROUND!” Temari raised her eyebrows. 

“FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE, WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE, GREG HANKURO!”

“AND FROM CLASS 3-A, THE ONE CONTROLING THE STRINGS AND CHANGING FATE, CONDUCTOR; THE PUPPET MASTER HERO!” Temari sighed, debating whether or not to just go and hide in her next preparation room. 

“I know Kankuro has got this! See you guys soon!” Mirio assured, heading off to get ready for his match. 

**_~~~_ **

Kankuro was happy that he was going to face Greg. 

Greg was a very capable opponent, and also quite the trickster. 

Kankuro was also still upset about the puppet fiasco that caused him to lose in the second event in his first year. Deep down inside he knew that technically it wasn’t the twins fault but he was still bitter about it. 

He would have probably been friends with them if Greg didn’t like to poke at people’s buttons so much. 

“Begin!” Midnight cheered and Greg gave a wave and Kankuro scowled at him.

“Well, should we draw this out nice and long, or make it short and quick?” Greg asked, bouncing a weird water gun in his hands. Kankuro’s scowl deepened. 

Kankuro grabbed Kangaroo from his side and sent it forward, at that moment, Greg tried to shoot his feet with the water gun, thankfully for Kankuro, he dodged just in time. 

Kankuro sent out Kangaroo to take him out, but Greg dodged as well. Greg retaliated with another shoot of the weird liquid, again missing. 

Kankuro moved to go forward, but found he was stuck. He had moved directly into the substance that Greg had been shooting.

Internally, Kankuro cursed himself. He should have been paying more attention. 

Unfortunately for Greg, Kankuro did not need his feet to fight. **_(F in the chat for Greg)_ **

Kankuro pulled out Armadillo. 

Armadillo was a sleek black puppet that was currently rolled up in a ball. They are able to withstand the elements, and Kankuro was hoping the resistant material would allow for Armadillo to move with Greg’s strange substance that was on the ground. 

Changing tactics, Greg pulled out a weird barrel looking gun and pulled the trigger at Armadillo, that was barrling straight towards him.

Kankuro yanked his strings to the left, avoiding the strange blast. Kankuro feels a very powerful breeze as Armadillo collides with Greg, sending him out of the ring. 

“Kankuro wins!” Midnight announced.

Kankuro pulled Armadillo to him and put them back on his back. Kankuro had to wait for Greg to free him from the substance. 

“What is this stuff, it’s pretty strong?” Kankuro asked, as Greg knelt down.

“I call it Sap. I modeled it after tree sap. It is quite versatile.” Greg replied proud.

“It is. That was a smart move. And the strange gun?” Kankuro questioned, and Greg grinned at him.

“That’s Ari. They are my favorite, a pressurized air cannon. They are quite powerful, so far the most they have been able to knock over is a brick from one hundred feet.” Kankuro blinked.

“That is so cool! I bet Temari would like that!” Kankuro commented, finally free from the Sap and Greg nodded.

“I kinda used her quirk as inspiration for them.” Greg admitted and Kankuro laughed.

“Just don’t tell her that, she will get a big head.” Kankuro said. Greg glanced at him kinda confused, but glad that Kankuro is being so friendly. 

“Your puppet design is improving every second, are you sure your true calling isn’t in the support field?” Greg asked, going out on a limb.

“Thank you!” Kankuro said nervously, “And yeah, I am set on the hero course. Sorry about the whole thing first year… I kinda held a grudge.” Greg laughed.

“That’s fine, I got too excited with the possibility of creating a puppet… besides, I think you are better off making your own, that way you know everything!” Greg smiled, “Although, if you ever want help, I am open! I would love the chance to work on one again.” He added.

“That can be arranged.” Kankuro nodded, and they both walked off the field chattering about designs.

Midnight just stood there confused by what was going on and got ready to announce the start of the next match. 

**_~~~_ **

“FOR THE NEXT MATCH, BOTH OPPONENTS FROM CLASS 3-A, THE FIRST THE WISE OLD SAGE THAT ISN’T ACTUALLY OLD, TOAD SAGE!!!!” Yamada cheered, “AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RING, THE HERO ON A MISSION, LEMILLION!!!!” Mirio stepped proudly into the ring. 

“You boys ready?” Midnight asked, cracking her whip, Mirio giving her a bright grin and Jiraiya mirrored that, “Alright! Begin!” she announced.

It was a blow for blow fight, even more intense than the one during the second event, which made since given the differing objectives. This was the longest of the battles so far, both of the students, soon to be pro heroes, were well versed in physical combat, and both had a quirk that amplified that skill. 

Eventually however, just as in the second event, Mirio came out on top-literally. Mirio had landed a blow to Jiraiya's rib cage, knocking him out and Mirio landed on top of him. 

“LEMILLION WINS AND WILL BE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ROUND” Midnight announced, almost as loud as Present Mic.

**_~~~_ **

Tamaki was not upset that he couldn’t watch Mirio’s fight as he was directly after. 

And he DEFINITELY wasn’t sad that Mirio wasn’t able to wish him good luck or give him a ‘you can do it!’, with one of those blindingly bright smiles that made Tamaki feel things. 

Tamaki needed to get rid of those feelings that he most certainly didn’t have, because those non-existent feelings would never be returned.

Tamaki supposed that he had to do his best, even though it meant dealing with the crowd and getting some sort of attention, otherwise Mirio would have that sad, disappointed look on his face, and Tamaki most certainly did not want to be on the receiving end of that. 

Tamaki slouched and continued his hurried walk to his preparation room. Once he got there, he just sat in the corner and played with the hem of his hood. 

One thing Tamaki was grateful for was the fact that he could wear his hero costume so that he could hide in his hood.

The person who came to fetch him got confused when they didn’t see him in the room, but thankfully they saw him at the last second where he was in his corner.

Tamaki tried to make himself as small as possible as he walked out into the arena. 

“FROM CLASS 3-B WE HAVE THE SKATER HERO THAT MADE HIS MARK IN ALL OF OUR HEARTS, VICTUURI!!!!! AND FROM CLASS 3-A WE HAVE THE HERO THAT MUST HAVE EATEN A CINNAMON ROLL WITH THAT QUIRK OF HIS, SUNEATER!!!!!!!” 

As Midnight started the match he froze.

All of a sudden a voice broke through the crowd just as Porark was about to strike.

“YOU GOT THIS TAMAKI!!!” Mirio cheered.

This caused a rather severe reaction in Tamaki that he wouldn’t have done if he was mentally in the arena. He manifested tentacles on his left hand, a clam on his right, hooves for legs, chicken wings, and something else that Tamaki would later tell them that he had no idea what it was because it had never appeared before, his hair turning into a green plant of somesort. 

Tamaki didn’t even have to do anything, because Porark must have been surprised to see this sudden extreme manifestation, as he veered to the left and went out of bounds. 

“SUNEATER IS THE WINNER!!!” Midnight announced, shooting him a thumbs up. 

Tamaki was embarrassed that he didn’t even fight, but he supposed that it may have looked planned so maybe he wouldn’t be ridiculed for freezing up in front of a crowd. 

Everything was simpler with Fatgum and real hero work.

He just hoped Fatgum wouldn’t change his mind about taking him on as a sidekick after graduation.

If the hero realized he wasn’t worth the trouble, he didn’t know what he would do. Working with him in his work studies ruined his chance of becoming an underground hero and he wouldn’t be comfortable enough to work with any other hero. 

Tamaki could feel the panic growing and slunk into a random room and curled up in the corner. 

**_Hi… don’t hate us for the cliff hanger… it wrote itselllffff okkkkkk_ **

**_Haha just kidding… we totally didn’t forget a main character’s fight… nope… not us… Well not Shinji at least…_ **

Back in the stadium after Tamaki had left, Nejire and Haya were getting ready to head down.

“...THE QUEEN BEE, DOES THIS COUNT AS MEXICAN!!!! ALSO IN CLASS 3-B, WITH LIMBS OF STEEL, CURRY OF LIFE!!!” Yamada screeched. 

“Go get ‘em Nejire!” Kankuro cheered, as the girl stood up and gave an enthusiastic wave. 

Haya looked over at Nejire nervously before following after.

“You got this too, Haya! May the best woman win!” Temari encouraged. Shi just sent a wink and thumbs up. 

Nejire was happy to get out of the preparation room. There was no one to talk to in there, it was very boring. 

She was excited to face Haya, not that she didn’t on a somewhat regular basis, they were in the same class after all, but this was a more formal setting than just simple sparing or a class activity. 

Nejire wanted to win, but she also wanted Haya to win! They weren’t the closest of friends, but she didn’t see why they couldn’t be! 

Besides, Haya could use a confidence boost! 

Haya was the best at judo and other types of martial arts in the hero course so Nejire would have to watch out. 

“OK!” Midnight began, “Start!” **_(we are running out of ways to make this not repetitive people… so like if they start getting weird… that is why.)_ **

Haya didn’t hesitate, rushing forward with her boa staff extended.

Nejire hastily blocked, only for Haya to sweep her legs.

Nejire lost her balance, and did a backflip to right herself.

‘ _ This is going to be a fun fight!’  _ Nejire grinned, retaliating with a kinetic blast.

  
  
  


Greg’s Inventions!

Sap- a tree sap like substance made for sticking villains to the ground! He uses it in a modified water gun, but he doesn’t really make the weapon parts so there probably is a better way to go about it. 

Ari- Mini air cannon thing that can knock down bricks. It can be mini cause this is the future. 

Me: OK I have found a way to start let’s get crackin! 

Brian: WhAt R WurDssS 

  
  


#thiswouldbeeasierwithamouse 

Event 1: Keep the Eggie Safe! 

  1. Do not let any harm come to the boiled egg dummies… provided by EggMan (sonic reference much…) 
  2. Time limit 
  3. More Eggies around, but be careful! They are hostages!
  4. Obstacle course like first years



Event 2: Capture the Flag Paintball Extravaganza! 

  1. Teams of Five 
  2. Each team has a flag made up of all their combined points from the previous round; time, condition and number of eggies are all factors
  3. You have paintball guns! When you get shot, you go to jail and a teammate must rescue you! (Nedzu’s idea… he was dropping off the edited plans………)
  4. Your team picks a spot in the city landscape provided by our heroes!
  5. You leave your flag here, you can choose to defend it using all or some of your team or just abandon your flag to go in search of bigger prey!
  6. If you capture a flag, you must get it back to your space to be defended!



Event 3: One on One Battles 

  1. Just PvP battles! 
  2. Absolutely no hidden things at all 



  
  
  


**Ummmm**

“Uh, Kankuro…” Temari started, “Where did you find that bag?” 

In a back alley somewhere… I took out some weird looking, horrible smelling boney thing to get it though 

Had to bleach the whole thing to get the smell out

-Iwa and Shiji

  
  


Aizawa should find out the day they like go back to class and so tea time with Nedzu is like I AM EXPELLING A STUDENT Nedzu… sips tea… oh? What took you so long

-honestly don’t remember who did this one… both of us, probably… can you guess who is being expelled? 👀

  
  
  


“I HATE YOU ALL AND YOU WILL DIEEEEE.” -draft 1

“I would have not gotten to my third year if it were not for the people around me. Friends, teachers, and even those that peeps don’t get along with… like Becky.” -draft 2

“This is our last year. All of us have come far from where we started. If you told me three days ago that I would be giving a speech, I would have broken down and had a panic attack… oh wait… I did that. No matter what we are going to do after school is over, we all depended on someone to get where we are today. We are meant to showcase our skills today, but remember the people that helped you get here, and do it for them as well as yourself.” -draft 3

-Iwa being frustrated cause speeches are hard and so out of character for Tamaki but we were like SpEaCh… because apparently we wanted to break character that day (Iwa)

And we couldn’t Bakugou ™ it, sadly…. (Shinji)

  
  


So now do we give Gaara’s perspective of what is going on in the box until Midnight goes “LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLEEEEEE” (Iwa)

Yus! XDDD Somehow I was expecting that XDD (Shinji) 

**_Midoriya_ **

Gaara [8:59 am]: I have been told that texting will solve my boredom.

Midoriya [9:01 am]: Ok? Hello! What’s going on?

Gaara [9:01 am]: I am trying to distract myself so I do not commit a murder

SHINSO: seems legit. 

SHINOS: although if you do I can help you hide the body

IIDA: SHINSO! That is not a very hero thing to do!

IIDA: also do you need assistance Gaara?

KAMINARI: Yeaah! I know all the best hiding spots! Count me in!

IWA: uhhhhh where did I get off the train… oh yeah… trying to be Mido wasn’t working so likeeeee I went to Shinso...

SHINJI: We really need a class chat soon…

IWA: SHHHHH we haveeee aaaa pllllaaaaannnnnnnn don’t *sneeze* stray from the plannnnnnnnnnn

SHINJI: Trrrrrruuuuuueeeeee

  
  
  
  


So, I blame the creators for giving us such an easy time to ruin these kids’ lives

-Shinji after us reviewing our plans and backstories… no spoilers!!

https://www.thetoptens.com/best-insults/#:~:text=Top%2010%20Best%20Insults%2C%20Disses%2C%20and%20Burns%201,it%20out%20with%20a%20fork.%20More%20items...%20

**A List Of Random Insults(some of these are really awful):[So I actually deleted some cause they’re quite rude but these are pretty hilarious! Even though they aren’t what we were looking for lol?]**

It looks like your face caught on fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork. 

Take that mask off, Halloween isn't until October

Do you have to leave so soon? I was just about to poison the tea.

You could be very useful in the army; your face kills faster than any gun or bomb.

Do you still love nature....despite what it did to you?

-Shinji (we were looking for random things for Temari to say about Nara…)

  
  


Shu: says he doesn’t think gaara should make friends

Also shu: tries to help Gaara with making/keeping friends

-Shinji

The park was like everything else in this fake city. Beyond Plus Ultra. It was like the school had no idea how to WRITE WORDS!

-Iwa


	61. Chapter 58 ~ Death By Fight Scenes With Too Many Flustered Fighters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was a drag… JK! We again quite enjoyed it, except for the fight scenes that seemed to drag on forever… because neither of us can write them…
> 
> OK IMPORTANT!!!!! There is a panic attack in this chapter and if you want to skip it, use the fish system!! If you see <>< look for the next one if you want to skip it!! It is a panic attack that we imagined how the character would react, not like our own.
> 
> I feel so awkward writing author’s notes… like what if I miss something… looks at chapter number… well I guess it is too late to be worrying about that… well… they always turn out awkward anyways so that is nothing new... also whatever you do... don't go back lol... Shinji and I are re-reading this and we totally didn't find ANY plot holes that you totally couldn't drive a mothership through.... also totally no grammar mistakes... haha.... eh. 
> 
> We also have been working on a new book! Don't worry it will never effect this one! It hasn't been published yet, but we are going to publish the first preliminary chapter on a Monday!! Which Monday? Who knows! XD
> 
> We love your comments and the fact that you are actually reading this!!

Nejire ended up winning, she gave a hug to Haya and the two headed back up to the stands. 

Well Nejire kind of dragged a very flustered Haya, but the result was still the same. 

On the way back, Nejire convinced Haya to have her and Shi sit closer to them, but when they arrived, Nejire was confused as to where Tamaki was. 

“Uh guys?” Nejire asked, “Where is Tamaki?” The trio looked up at her concerned. 

“He never came back after his battle…” Kankuro murmured and Mirio jumped to his feet.

“I will find him,” Mirio said, guilty that he hadn’t gone and looked for his  crush  best friend. Mirio felt mad at himself.

First for him not worrying about Tamaki when he hadn’t come back immediately, and the second was for the part of him apparently still harboring romantic feelings for his childhood friend. 

It wasn’t fair to Tamaki for Mirio to have these feelings. He knew that if he continued to let them grow unchecked he would just blurt them out one day, ruining one of the only safe places that Tamaki had. 

Tamaki wouldn’t feel comfortable around him anymore and Mirio didn’t want that. He had to support Tamaki’s well being, even if it meant not being around him, and Mirio didn’t want that. 

So he pushed his feelings deep down inside and ignored them. He totally didn’t notice them when Tamaki hid in his hood like a tiny kitten, or when Tamaki hid in Mirio’s chest, or when he laughed that cute laugh when someone managed to bring him out of his shell, or the content look he got on his face being around their friends, or the smile that- 

Ok, so Mirio could admit that he wasn’t doing a very good job at getting rid of his feelings, but at least he was trying.

Mirio figured that he would start his search for Tamaki from where he would have exited the stadium, and taking the possible paths he could have taken. 

Once he had gotten to the entrance/exit to the stadium, there were two paths he could take, one back the way he came and then the other. 

Mirio chose the one he hadn’t gone down, having not seen Tamaki and there were no more splits in that hallway. 

After a few minutes of wandering, Mirio came across a cracked open door. Mirio opened that door further.

**< ><**

“Tamaki?” Mirio asked, softly. The light from the hallway flooded the dark room to reveal a curled up and hyperventilating Tamaki. 

“Hey Tamaki?” Mirio asked, even softer, “Can you hear me right now?” Tamaki opened his mouth to speak, but only short gasps came out, “Shh, you don’t have to speak, nod if I can touch you.” Tamaki nodded desperately, needing something to ground him. Mirio’s arms gently picked him up and placed him in his lap, wrapping his arms around Tamaki, but not tight enough that the boy couldn’t rock back and forth or felt trapped. Mirio noticed Tamaki’s hands.

“Hey, none of that,” Mirio gently grabbed Tamaki’s hands, that had been scratching at his arms and held them in his own, “Can you tell me five-” Mirio started and Tamaki violently shook his head and started shaking, “Ok that’s fine, how bout I just talk for a bit?” Mirio knew that he had to ask only one question at a time when Tamaki had panic attacks, otherwise he would get even more overwhelmed. 

Tamaki shook his head again, although this time it was less violent, and just shifted slightly so that he could bury his head in Mirio’s chest, wrapping his arms around Mirio tightly.

Mirio breathed slowly and deeply to help Tamaki do the same in time, and also wrapped his arms around him, holding him close as Tamaki tried to match his breathing.

The hyperventilating eventually shifted into sharp sobs making Tamaki grip Miro even tighter. Mirio moved Tamaki further into his lap and started rocking them back and forth. 

**< >< ** **_(mostly over now)_ **

Mirio was unsure of how long they were sitting in the room before Tamaki’s sobs turned into soft breaths, but he didn’t care.

He would gladly sit here all day with Tamaki if he could help him. 

As they sat there, Mirio still gently rocking Tamaki, Mirio’s phone vibrated in his pocket, causing Tamaki to jump. 

**Actually I’m a Big Fan**

Actually I’m a Big Fan [1:09 pm]: Let me know when you find him

Actually I’m a Big Fan [1:36 pm]: If you don’t answer soon I am going to assume you need actual help and you are in trouble, but for now, I got Aizawa to push your match to after Nejire’s which is starting now btw. I’ll give you three min then I will call. If you don’t answer I am getting help. 

Puns4Days [1:36 pm]: I got him. Panic attack. I will talk to him about the match. 

Actually I’m a Big Fan [1:37 pm]: That’s what I was thinking when he didn’t show up… I owe him so many hugs cause we didn’t find him earlier. I was hoping it wasn’t tho. Glad you were the one to find him, you are the best at helping him come back. I am also kinda glad tho because he wasn’t attacked or something… I think I am still on edge from yesterday. 

“Hey, Tamaki,” Mirio said quietly, “Do you think you are okay to talk to me a little?” 

“Y-yeah.” Tamaki said hoarsely.

“I need to know if you think you can do the next match.” Mirio said, “You can say no, and no one will think less of you. Don’t feel like you have to push yourself because you feel like you have to prove yourself to anyone, because you already have done this many times over every day.” Tamaki started to cry softly again, “Now, if you want to go out there because you think you can do it, I will support you of course, but only if you aren't going because of the other reasons and it is this alone.” Mirio added, now his hands rubbing slow circles on Tamaki’s back. 

“I-I… I d-don’t k-k-” Tamaki tried to push out.

“If you are unsure, will going out there push you back over the edge? I want you to pick what is best for Tamaki, not what other people will think of Tamaki no one will blame you, ok? And no one has to know except maybe one of the teachers.” Mirio reaffirmed. 

Tamaki started rocking again and nodded, his breathing again turning ragged.

“Hey, it’s fine Maki ok? You did so well today, nothing to be ashamed of. We don’t have to talk about what caused this right now, or later, or even tomorrow. Just whenever you are ready. If that is never to me, I ask that you tell someone else sometime. You know that you only get worse until you let out those feelings and thoughts, so we can be there for you instead of you doing it all on your own. Can I let Aizawa-sensei know?” Tamaki nodded into his chest and Mirio picked his phone back up.

**For Big Mistakes**

Togata Mirio :) [1:40 pm]: Hey sensei. Tamaki had a really bad panic attack and he decided that it wouldn’t be good for him to continue.

For Big Mistakes [1:41 pm]: Tell him that’s fine. I’ll have them announce that he fell ill. Why don’t you bring him up to the sound room if he is ok with that. We have cats and Gaara might be able to be persuaded to share his blanket. If not, send him to Recovery Girl, just don’t let him be alone. I figured he would prefer being able to watch everyone live still would be preferable, but make sure he picks what he wants.

Togata Mirio :) [1:41 pm]: Thank you.

For Big Mistakes [1:42 pm]: It’s my job.

Togata Mirio :) [1:42 pm]: Alrighty Dadzawa.

“Ok Tamaki!” Mirio smiled lightly, “Now, I am guessing you don’t want to go and sit in the stands, so Aizawa asked if you would like to go to the sound booth. That way you could still watch if you want and they have cats! Or you could also go with Recovery Girl, so whatever you want.” Tamaki stilled while he thought about it.

“I can go and sit with Aizawa, I guess, at least I will be out of the way there.” Tamaki decided, moving to stand up. 

“Nope!” Mirio said, and swept Tamaki up, the boy releasing a squeak of surprise and embarrassment as he was put into a princess carry.  **_(I couldn’t say no to my urge… sorry Tamaki and Mirio’s repressed feelings… this is what happens when you can’t write for like three days.)_ **

“Mirio…” Tamaki mumbled into Mirio’s chest, “That’s embarrassing.” Mirio chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it! I wasn’t going to have you walk right after a panic attack like that one!” Mirio commented, “I’ll put you down before we go into the sound room, don’t worry.”  **_(yes… saying don’t worry fixes everything and totally doesn’t make you worry more.)_ **

Tamaki started muttering and just accepted his fate. 

Mirio was true to his word and set him down when they came to be in front of the sound room door.

Tamaki stared at Mirio until he got the hint and opened the door. Tamaki face-palmed internally, as he was trying to get him to knock. 

“Oh! Hello listeners! You are just in time, Tamaki!” Present Mic informs, waving him in, “I was just about to announce the next fight!” Tamaki looked at him, then at Mirio, who gave him a quick hug and a slight push into the room before closing the door. 

“Come in and sit somewhere!” Yamada smiled, “You can have Gaara’s chair if you would like, he opted to sit in the corner instead.” Tamaki looked over at Gaara who was staring at him like a seagull that spotted food and at the chair that was up next to the two men.

Tamaki went to the opposite corner to Gaara. Yamada’s face fell.

“If you want the chair so you can see, you can take it over to the corner with you!” Yamada offered and Aizawa grunted.   
  


Tamaki hesitated for a second before dragging the chair over to his chosen corner and sitting down.

“Hey, if you need anything just ask Amajiki.” Aizawa grunted.

Tamaki nodded as a tuxedo-cat jumped into his lap.

‘Maybe I should have risked being in Recovery Girl’s way after all…’ Tamaki thought, trying to avoid the stare of the other cat-like thing in the other corner. 

**_~~~_ **

Temari left almost immediately after Mirio went to go find Tamaki, as her fight was the next one. In all actuality she should have been down there already, but that is a technicality.

That left Nejire, Haya, Kankuro and Shi ‘alone’ in the stands. 

“Who do you think will win?” Nejire asked, turning around to face Shi and Haya who were sitting directly behind her and Kankuro. 

“Well…” Kankuro mused, “Either Temari will win by skill, or the sheer amount of her rage will make poor Nara drop dead on the spot.”

“Temari certainly has more of a drive to win.” Haya agreed, “Nara could win if he could figure out a plan that played to her weaknesses.”

“Who knows? We will just have to see how it goes!” Nejire quipped.

“FOR THE SECOND TIME AT A SPORTS FESTIVAL, FUJIN AND SHIKA FACE OFF AND THE WINNER WILL GO TO THE QUARTER FINALS!!!!!” Kankuro snorted.

“It’s not like all of us haven’t fought each other before, some of us fight the same people every year in the last round!” Haya groaned.

“I think he just needs more things to be able to say, you know?” Shi defended, “He has to commentate all three festivals every year so it must be hard to come up with stuff to say.” 

“He lives to do this! He enjoys it! Besides, he wasn’t commentating yesterday! He had an entire extra day worth of material!” Kankuro refuted.

“But all of that was geared to the second years.” Nejire pointed out. 

“Still! He could have made better introductory statements while he was at the cat cafe yesterday!” Kankuro complained.

“Well, you also have to take into account that he has no idea who is going to place so most of this is made up on the spot, it’s not realistic to come up with introductory statements for over two hundred students plus the possible combinations that they could possibly have.” Shi remarked.

“Yeah!” Nejire agreed, “Wait-” She said, suddenly narrowing her eyes, “How do you know he was at a cat cafe yesterday?” Kankuro immediately looked guilty, and scooted away from her.

“Wellllllll… Temari and I have something to tell you?” Kankuro said, nervously, “After the festival?”

Neire narrowed her eyes further, “How about you tell me now?” Kankuro laughed nervously.

“Um… this is kinda something Temari and I want to explain together? Plus… it’s kinda… heavy?” Kankuro volunteered. 

“Fine.” Nejire huffed, “As soon as we get done here and we are somewhere private, I expect the entire story.” Kankuro nodded furiously. 

Midnight called for the battle to begin and Nejire’s focus moved from Kankuro to the battle. 

“You got this Mari!!!!” Nejire cheered.

“GO SIS!!!!” Kankuro echoed.

They watched as the two on the field just stood there, facing one another.

Temari must have finished analyzing the situation, for she pulled out her fan, pressing the eighth button and creating a gust. She grabbed a hold of the current, and provided just enough energy to make it so it would blow a person out of the ring.

Nara’s shadows slithered out from behind him, attaching him to the walls of the ring to keep him ancored. 

This had suddenly turned into a quirk battle. 

“She must have decided to wait him out.” Haya muttered and Kankuro nodded.

Unfortunately, quirk battles like this one are extremely boring.

Three minutes since Temari had pulled out her fan, Nara moved. Slowly, but he still moved, until he was sitting just outside of the ring.

“TEMARI WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Midnight proclaimed, and Temari walked over to where Nara was still sitting on the ground. 

“Oh no…” Kankuro whimpered, but his concern was unwarranted. 

“Hey.” Temari greeted, looking down.

“Hey.” Nara replied, looking up.

“Good fight… well better than past ones anyway.” Temari acknowledged and Nara smiled.

“That was a good plan you had there.”

“Well it was the only thing I could think of that I could probably control and get something close to the fight I wanted.” Temari shrugged and Nara stood up.

“You are very troublesome.” Nara sighed, “Well good luck for the rest of the festival, though I don’t think you need it.” Temari nodded, blushing furiously she stalked away.

“She looks upset, what do you think they talked about?” Haya wondered and Nejire chucked.

“I don’t know if she is upset or just flustered.” Nejire suggested, raising her eyebrows suggestively, causing Haya to blush. 

“No!! She hates the guy! She is definitely upset.” Kankuro rebuked. 

“Uh huh.” Nejire rolled her eyes, unconvinced, “You wouldn’t know a crush if it was sitting right behind you boring a hole in your head.” Shi immediately started coughing and turning to Nejire with mortification. Nejire turned her head pointedly to Kankuro.

“No, I most certainly wouldn’t!” Kankuro denied, missing the whole exchange that had just occurred, “You are the one who can’t see a crush!” Kankuro refuted, eyes flickering to Haya, who sent a death glare at him. 

“OH REALLY?” Nejire mocked, “Well, what about Mirio, huh? Who is he in love with?” Kankuro looked at her confused.

“No one!” Nejire looked at him as if she was proving a point.

“And Tamaki?”    
  


“He isn’t in love either!”

“Really? You don’t see the way they look at each other? Or the way they have been acting for the last three years? Who knows how long they have been in love! They could have been in love since pre-school!” Nejire threw her hands in the air.

Haya looked at Kankuro in shock, “You seriously can’t see the feelings? Even I figured it out first year and I don’t spend all day around them! In fact, I thought that they were already dating!”

“Well I guess it would make sense...” Kankuro admitted, “but it is totally a lie! I think…. Probably not…” 

“I can’t believe that you haven't noticed before this, I literally have been pushing them together for three years and changing their chat names!” Nejire said, exasperated.

“I thought it was a joke because of how close they were…” Kankuro trailed off, “Ok… I see where I went wrong here…” Nejire patted him on the back, “How did I not connect the dots?” Kankuro groaned.

“There-there, you are just probably lonely.” Nejire sympathised, sending another look to Shi, who looked like she was going to faint, while Kankuro held his face in his hands. 

“Uh… not to interrupt but… aren’t you two supposed to go?” Haya signaled.

“OH NO! WE ARE FIGHTING NEXT!!” Shi shouted in horror, scrambling to get up, Kankuro following suit.

“NOW OUR NEXT CONTESTANTS, UH… WHERE ARE OUR NEXT CONTESTANTS?? WELL, THEY ARE TWO HEROES IN TRAINING WITH A LOT OF COURAGE! THEY BOTH HAVE VERY DIFFERENT FIGHTING STYLES, SO THIS BATTLE WILL BE INTERESTING!!! IF THEY ACTUALLY ARRIVE TO THE RING!! OH!! HERE THEY COME!!!” Yamada shouted as Kankuro and Shi launched themselves into the stadium in their haste. 

Meanwhile, Temari had just gotten back and was cackling over the current scene. Her laughter did not last long, however, when Nejire informed her that they had things to talk about later, but started up again when Nejire explained Kankuro’s delusion. 

Kankuro and Shi got into position and Midnight called for the match to begin.

Shi immediately rushed Kankuro trying to get to him before he pulled out his puppets, which she did. He went under her kick and went backwards grabbing both Black Ant and Armadillo. 

Kankuro was going to use both puppets in an effort to overwhelm Shi. 

Unfortunately for Shi, in the tight confines of the arena, along with no surroundings she could use to her advantage, she eventually was overtaken by both of Kankuro’s puppets. 

“Congratulations.” Shi blushed and Kankuro smiled at her.

“We both know that if this was an actual battle I would have lost.” Kankuro said.

“I don’t know about that.” Shi commented.

“I do!” Kankuro praised, “You are amazing!” Shi’s entire body turned beet red and stuttered out a thank you before running off, leaving Kankuro confused.

‘ _ I hope she goes to Recovery Girl,’  _ Kankuro thought, ‘ _ She looks like she isn’t feeling so well.’ _

__ They got back as Yamada was announcing the next match, “OUR NEXT MATCH IS NEJIRE-CHAN AGAINST CURRY OF LIFE!!!!!” 

“What about Tamaki and Mirio?” Kankuro asked Temari, confused. 

“Tamaki is still unaccounted for Nejire and Curry were willing to go in their place. If they are gone much longer I am sending security after them, but I think Tamaki is upset and Mirio is being Mirio and lost track of time.” Temari explained, “Maybe they are even having a moment!” she added, turning to where Nejire would be, before sighing and turning back to the stadium.

Kankuro sighed and sat down. He was planning on talking to Mirio as soon as possible about the whole feelings thing. He had missed out on being a wingman for two years. That was going to end today. 

Nejire won, unsurprisingly to her friends watching and Yamada announced that Tamaki had fallen ill, therefore, Mirio won the match by default. 

Nejire, Temari and Kankuro all shared concerned looks, it must have been really bad for Tamaki to opt out. 

They didn’t have time to stew in their worry, as Kankuro and Temari had to head down for their own fight. 

“Do they like pitting twins against twins today?” Haya snorted.

“Who knows anymore?” Nejire shrugged. 

“THIS NEXT MATCH SHOULD BE INTERESTING!!! WE HAVE FUJIN AGAINST CONDUCTOR!!!! THE THIRD BATTLE AMONG TWINS TODAY, ALTHOUGH THESE TWO ARE RELATED!!! THIS IS AN EXTREME CASE OF SIBLING RIVALRY!!!”

“Why did he announce your name first?” Kankuro whined and Temari scoffed.

“Because I am going to win, obviously.”

“Oh, it’s on.” Kankuro snarled. 

“Now fight fair my niblings!” Midnight scolded, then announced, “BEGIN!” 

Unlike in previous battles that day, Kankuro and Temari immediately rushed each other. 

Like most of 3-A, they were extremely familiar with their separate fighting styles, but on top of that, they sparred together at home as well. 

They fought hand to hand for a bit then jumped apart, getting out their separate support items. Kankuro sent Armadillo after her, but instead of dodging, she used her fan to attack Armadillo. 

The wind targeted Kankuro’s connection to Armadillo, and then another attack sent Armadillo out of the ring. 

Temari tried to dodge an attack from Black Ant, missed, then attacked from the ground where she landed. 

Kankuro jumped to the left to get out of the way, and also tripped over Temari’s fan that was suddenly there and fell out of the ring. 

“TEMARI WINS!!!” Midnight cheered, and Kankuro scowled. 

“Fine, you win this round.” Kankuro huffed, turning away from Temari.

“I think that isn’t up to your opinion, but it’s nice that you agree!” Temari teased. 

“I hope Mirio or Nejire beats you.” Kankuro sniffed, childishly. Temari gasped in fake horror.

“Wow, choosing our friend over your own twin, too cruel.” Temari laughed, “Now get up to the stands, I don’t want you to miss the next two battles!!” Kankuro sighed and headed back to the stands, while Temari decided to watch the coming battle from the preparation room so she was actually down where she was supposed to be before the match started. 

“THE BATTLE TO SEE WHO WILL BE FACING FUJIN IN THE FINALS IS BETWEEN NEJIRE-CHAN AND LEMILLION!!!” Yamada illuminated.

“Good luck you two,” Midnight smirked, “BEGIN!!!”

Temari watched nervously from the preparation room, not so much that she was worried about who she was fighting, but that she didn’t want either of her friends to lose.

However, there had to be a winner and a loser. As the battle went on, Nejire was being corralled to the edge of the ring. No matter how many times she would get out, Mirio somehow managed to get her cornered again. 

His training and dedication was really showing. 

In the end, it was Mirio that would be facing her… in under five minutes.

Temari had to admit that she was more than a little jittery about being in the finals. Unlike all of her friends, she was still unsure of where she was going to go after graduation. 

Sure she had many offers, especially from her work study, but Temari didn’t know what she wanted.

Temari was sure of one thing. 

She really wanted to win.

Mirio and Temari stood across from each other. Mirio waved and sent her a thumbs up which she returned.

Temari didn’t even hear Midnight start the fight, she just saw Mirio move and she reacted. 

As she moved forward she spun around, knowing that Mirio liked to phase immediately and surprise his opponent from behind. Doing this she was able to block his attack.

“Gotta try harder than that.” She smirked.

“Nice block!” Mirio complemented, “Too bad you can’t block this one!” Mirio feinted to the right and Temari dodged right, failing straight into Mirio’s trick. His feint was actually his attack. 

She stumbled sideways and managed to recover before he could land a second hit on her. 

The next hit that either of them was able to land was a few minutes later and dealt by Temari, managing to catch Mirio before he phased away.

“Nice one!” Mirio panted, “But it is time for this to end!” 

“You’re right about both of those things.”

Despite their comments, it actually took an entire minute for the fight to reach its actual conclusion. 

Temari was watching where Mirio would phase next so when he appeared, she went to attack, finding him gone. 

Mirio appeared on her left side and dealt a blow to her ribs then a subsequent hit to her stomach. 

Temari fell unconscious. 

As Midnight declared him the winner, Mirio collapsed from exhaustion. There were very few people in the world that wouldn’t after the day the third years had.    
  


Recovery Girl came and got the two of them from the field, and Yamada announced that the awards would be in thirty minutes. 

Kankuro and Nejire dragged a reluctant Shi and Haya down to Recovery Girl’s room to make sure that their friends were ok while they themselves had to go down to the stadium to fight for third.

The battle was fairly short, seeing as both of them were exhausted from previous battles. Nejire ended up winning, and Midnight had barely finished her announcement before they were racing back to Recovery Girl’s room. 

When they got there, Recovery Girl was sitting by the two looking annoyed.

“You kids need to stop pushing yourselves so hard for a silly competition.” She reprimanded as soon as she noticed that the friends had entered the room.

“They are ok, right?” Kankuro asked casually, not worried at all.

Recovery Girl huffed, “Yes, yes. They just need rest. I know you will want to stay in here, but try not to crowd them.”

The friends all found chairs and pulled them closer to the two unconscious students when the door of the room opened again.

“Amajiki!” Recovery Girl greeted, “I was hoping you would come to see me, here, have a gummy.” 

Tamaki ducked his head and took the gummy before hurrying over to Mirio. He turned worriedly to his friends.

“Don’t worry Tamaki! Mirio is going to be just fine! He just overworked himself again!” Nejire reassured, “Oh and same for Temari.” Kankuro looked between Tamaki and Mirio and groaned.

“I am so dense!” Kankuro cried out, putting his head in his hands again. Tamaki looked at him confused but Haya shook her head. 

The minutes passed with the group making small talk, well minus Tamaki and Shi, they were content to just sit there unless someone prodded for their opinion. 

Tamaki was grateful that no one asked about earlier, even though he knew that everyone that was currently in the room was aware that he had a panic attack. He was considering thanking them when Mirio woke up, stopping him from making that bad decision. 

“Whoa! I must be in Recovery Girl’s room! What happened?” Mirio asked. As they started to explain to him, Temari also woke up, causing them to have to start over again. 

Soon, Midnight came and collected them for the awards ceremony, leaving the group to go back to the stands to watch.

“IN THIRD PLACE WE HAVE CLASS 3-A’S NEJIRE-CHAN!!!!!!” Yamada cheered, and Midnight begrudgingly put the third place medal over Nejire’s neck. 

It wasn’t that Nemuri didn’t like Nejire, quite the opposite actually, but she was hoping to put medals on both of her niblings competing!

“IN SECOND PLACE, ALSO IN CLASS 3-A, FUJIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Nemuri sidestepped proudly over to Temari and put the medal around her neck, also giving her a hug.

“Congratulations!” Nemuri smiled, giving Temari a thumbs up. 

“AND IN FIRST PLACE, AGAIN IN CLASS 3-A, LEMILLION!!” Nemuri awarded Mirio his medal and she smiled at him, receiving a smile in return. 

“AND THAT CONCLUDES THE LAST SPORT’S FESTIVAL! THESE STUDENTS, IN ALL DEPARTMENTS, ARE GOING TO GO FORTH TO BECOME THE BEST THEY CAN BE AND THEY WILL SHAPE THE WORLD INTO SOMETHING NEW!! HOP-” Yamada’s speech got cut off by sudden coughing and Aizawa’s voice crackled over the loudspeakers.

“Now go home and get some sleep.” 

The sounds of the mic turning off followed that statement.

“Well alright then…” Nemuri muttered, “These things get less professional the longer I go to them…” 

“That’s true!” Nejire quipped, “Now, Kankuro. We have somewhere to be.” Nejire left no room for discussion grabbing him and dragging him off to where she knew that Temari would be waiting for them. 

“Uh, Nejire?” Mirio questioned, coming up beside them, “Where are you going?”

“To get an explanation.” Nejire said flatly, “You can come with me.” 

“Ok then!” Mirio said cheerfully. They met up with Temari and Nejire also grabbed her too. 

They were dragged to an empty room and they all had a seat on the floor.

“Ok. Now you can tell me, right?” Nejire prompted, and Temari and Kankuro nodded.

“It’s a long story, but it is ours, and we are really sorry we didn’t tell you before… it’s just… well, you will probably understand better when we tell you.” Temari sighed.

The twins recanted their story for the second time and by the end Nejire was crying. 

“I love,” Nejire sniffed, “you guys, so so much. And I am happy you are well happy now and,” Nejire blew her nose, “that you told me.” She wiped her eyes and looked at Mirio, who was preparing to wrap them all in a group hug, “Wait, Mirio… why aren't you crying?”

“Well, we kinda had this discussion last night, besides! I am sad, I am just expressing it differently!” Mirio informed her, joyfully.

“Wait… what…” Nejire stopped everything and turned to look at Kankuro and Temari, “What does he mean, ‘we had this discussion last night’?” Kankuro fidgeting nervously. 

“Well… when Mirio and Tamaki dropped us off last night… they-” Kankuro started, gently. 

“Speaking of Tamaki, I better go and find him, so have fun with your discussion!” Mirio interrupted. 

“Oh no you don’t.” Nejire got up and blocked his path, “If you phase through me to leave, I will show Tamaki all of the candid photos you have of him. You all have a lot of explaining to do.” Mirio nervously backtracked and went to sit with Temari and Kankuro while Nejire towered over them. 

“So. Now you three will explain.” Nejire commanded. 

“Well… as I was saying before I was oh so rudely interrupted,” Kankuro said, snidely, receiving a swat on the head from Nejire, “Ow! Ok ok, I will behave… So. They dropped us off and they saw that Yamada and Aizawa are our new dad… things…” Kankuro explained awkwardly, “Then we couldn’t leave them without an explanation so… yeah… that happened.” Nejire sat down in front of them, which was somehow more intimidating and folded her arms.

“So you are saying you had a high five discussion, an IMPORTANT, LIFE CHANGING, discussion, and no one… not ONE of you… thought to call me…” Nejire said, deathly calm.

“Uhhhhhhh… no?” Kankuro said after both Temari and Mirio turned to him and said nothing.

“You!” Nejire steamed, “You all better make this up to me. I will be demanding so many things and you all better do them. I understand that this is an emotional subject but you don’t just forget about your best friend!” Nejire looked hurt.

“I’m sorry Nejire, we were freaking out. We just want you to know that you are our friend and we would never purposely exclude you from anything. We are so grateful to have you.” Temari sniffed, and Nejire jumped towards her for a hug.

“I mean we would exclude information for like a surprise party!” Mirio expressed, and Temari sent him a look, “But you are our friend and we should have included you. We are so sorry.”

“Yeah. You’re like the force that keeps Temari from killing us all, the one that defends us no matter what. We love you.” Kankuro added, Temari ignoring his comment for the time being.

“Awww, thanks guys, I love you too. Especially Tamaki. We really should go find him now.” Nejire commented, wiping her eyes. 

“WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT!” Kankuro announced, “Mirio! My boy! My pal! We need to talk.” Kankuro put his arm around Mirio’s shoulders, “So why don’t we let the girls go on ahead, and we will stay and have a chat!” Mirio looked like he was going to object, but the two girls had already left, closing the door with muffled snickers. 

‘ _ Well… I wonder what this is about?’  _ Mirio wondered to himself, as Kankuro invited him to sit back down. This was beginning to feel even more like an interrogation room. Mirio made a note to never enter this room again.


	62. Chapter 59 ~ Return of the Queen & Social and Supermarket Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Return of the Queen, Return of the King... get it? Lord of the Rings?.... no? Ok I will see myself out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Uh do we have anything to say about this chapter? No? Well we had fun writing this, hope you enjoy reading it!! (I know we say this every chapter but thank you so much for your comments and for just reading!) Also our new thing is out XD it's really depressing...
> 
> I seem to have a habit recently of writing really open endings to stuff… sorry about any future cliffhangers… and also the past ones...

After only five minutes of sitting in the room, he was considering bolting and risking his chances in the audience. 

Gaara would not stop staring at him.

“Gaara.” Aizawa sighed and the boy turned his uncomfortable gaze to him, “You shouldn’t stare at people. Say what you are thinking.” Gaara nodded in understanding and turned back to Tamaki. 

Tamaki tensed as Gaara opened his mouth, “Why does he stare at the bright blond one then?” Tamaki squeaked and buried himself into his costume, turning red.

“Gaara!” Yamada scolded, “We don’t expose someone’s crush like that!” This only made Tamaki sink onto the floor, becoming as small as possible.

“Crush?” Gaara asked, confused. Aizawa groaned.

“Amajiki, I apologize for my husband and my-” Aizawa paused for a second, “son’s comments. They did not mean to make you uncomfortable and  _ even more anxious _ than you already are.” Aizawa stressed glaring at his husband.

“Oh. Sorry Amajiki!” Yamada apologized, “I should have been more considerate!” Gaara just sat wondering what a crush was. He would have to ask Temari later. This time without anyone else around. 

“I also didn’t know that would make you upset.” Gaara blinked, “Do you like Mustachio? He is the one on your lap.” Gaara clarified. Tamaki gave a small smile. 

The cat in question, used to moving nap places, didn’t even get bothered when Tamaki had sunk to the floor. Tamaki gave a small nod, and Gaara took this as a pass to continue.

“The one currently rolling around is Ink. They snuck in my bag today. I am grateful that they had the foresight. It is really boring here.” Gaara informed him, ignoring Yamada’s snickering.

“It would be.” Tamaki muttered, and Yamada gasped offended.

All three of them ignored him.

“THIS NEXT MATCH SHOULD BE INTERESTING!!! WE HAVE FUJIN AGAINST CONDUCTOR!!!! THE THIRD BATTLE AMONG TWINS TODAY, ALTHOUGH THESE TWO ARE RELATED!!! THIS IS AN EXTREME CASE OF SIBLING RIVALRY!!!” Yamada screeched suddenly, without warning.

Tamaki and Gaara winced in unison. 

Tamaki got up and slowly moved his chair closer to the window so he could watch his friends fight, his eyes grew wide when Gaara also got closer, but on a floating pile of sand. 

Gaara paused as if listening to someone before speaking again, “Who do you think will win?” Tamaki thought a minute before responding.

“Probably Temari, she’s scary.” Gaara nodded in agreement. He looked content to sit there in silence but then his expression twisted into something pained.

“So how did you meet my siblings?” Gaara asked.

“Well, we met the first day of school… we were all in Class 1-B except Nejire… she forced herself on us at lunch after Temari responded to all of her rapid fire questions. At first, I just went along with the whole ‘friends’ thing because Mirio wanted me to, but they are amazing people and have a way of just accepting you for who you are.” Tamaki said softly.

“How…” Gaara struggled, “How do you know when you have friends?” Yamada was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening in and freaking out that Gaara was reaching out. 

Tamaki shrugged, “I think it is different for everyone, but for me they just pulled me in without my consent and then they made me happier.” Gaara went silent after that, staring at the battle between his siblings. Tamaki thought that Gaara wasn’t going to speak anymore when he finally spoke up as Midnight called the match.

“I think I have friends.” Gaara looked at him with wonder in his eyes then back at the stadium, “and you were right.” Tamaki offered him a small smile as Gaara turned back into himself. 

The fight between Nejire and Mirio was announced and Tamaki refocused on the stadium. 

Gaara let out a snort and Tamaki turned towards him confused, only to see that Gaara was even more confused. 

“Was something funny or something?” Tamaki wondered.

“Shukaku was just being annoying.” Gaara rolled his eyes. Tamaki grew concerned as both Yamada and seemingly asleep Aizawa froze. 

“We really need to talk to him about who he says stuff like that to…” Aizawa groaned.

“You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to?” Tamaki said, uncertain. 

“I mean, it is the Problem Child’s secret, so I mean like it really is his decision if he wants to tell you or not. Just don’t go telling other people without permission. This information is something people have killed for in the past, and won’t hesitate to go after Gaara because of it- him?” Aizawa informed, seriously. Tamaki blinked at him confused and saw Gaara doing the same. Gaara then shrugged and turned to Aizawa.

“Shukaku has said something similar before, but we don’t really know that much between us. Do you know more?” Gaara inquired and Aizawa sighed.

“This is a conversation for later, kid. Just be more careful with the information please.” Aizawa pleaded and Gaara shrugged, now turning to Tamaki.

“Apparently I have two quirks, but I think it is one with two applications…” Gaara's expression furrowed as he realized he was beginning to sound like Midoriya, “I have my sand and also Shukaku who shares my body. My therapist said we should work on our relationship. My father hated me because Shukaku killed my mother… well, not directly, just by us being born.” Aizawa sunk into his sleeping bag. 

He tells the kid to be more careful with information and he goes and tells Tamaki his entire life story. 

“Oh. That’s interesting.” Tamaki blinked, “Thank you for trusting me, I think…”

“Shukaku says hi. He also said that you and I should go to a class on socializing together, but I personally ignore most of what he suggests.” Gaara thought for a minute, “However, he is usually right about social things. Just now he commented that he is pleased to ‘meet’ you and that he quite enjoys you struggling around the bright blonde. He makes popcorn every time he sees you interact.” Gaara blinked as Tamaki blushed and made another dying animal noise, “Oh, I wasn’t supposed to bring that up… sorry?” 

“It’s fine.” Tamaki mumbled, “Tell him it is nice to ‘meet’ him too. So, is he like always there?”

“For the most part. He has a place he can go to ignore everything.” Gaara shrugged.

Tamaki’s attention shifted when Midnight announced that Mirio had won. That meant that Temari and Mirio would be facing each other. Speaking of the others, “So do my other friends know? Or your siblings?” Gaara shrugged.

“Temari and Kankuro know about Shukaku, but have never ‘talked’ to him like you have. I don’t really know who knows and who doesn’t, but I am guessing if you didn’t, the bright blonde and the loud energetic one don’t know either.” Gaara said, “The talking to other people thing is kind of new. Fluffy said that Shukaku and I need to communicate more… I think.” Yamada burst out laughing.

“FLUFFY! OH MY! You mean Hound Dog… you call Hound Dog Fluffy!!! This is the best thing that I have heard all day.” Yamada cackled, and even Aizawa snorted. Tamaki just looked stuck in between laughter and pain.

Yamada struggled to put it together long enough to announce the finals match and then went straight back to laughing. 

There was no more talking while Mirio and Temari fought, all of them at least somewhat paying attention to the battle. After Mirio won, there was more small talk and Tamaki felt himself becoming more and more comfortable around Gaara. 

There wasn’t as much social pressure to act a certain way as Gaara was also unsure of what society demanded in such a situation. It was very relaxing in a weird way. 

Tamaki sat up with the odd family until after the medaling ceremony was over, thinking it would be awkward if he left earlier, as he had not fought in his match. 

However, as time passed and no one said anything he started fidgeting. Aizawa noticed again.

“Did you text them?” Aizawa asked, “About what their plans are?” he clarified, and Tamaki nodded.

“They haven’t responded yet, but they are probably talking. Besides they will have to come back here eventually right? At least Temari and Kankuro?” Tamaki asked, looking for affirmation. 

“Of course.” Yamada clapped, “If not, we will go and hunt them down!” Tamaki immediately refused that offer and went back to playing with Ink and Mustachio with Gaara. 

  
  


**_~~~_ **

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Mirio asked, uncomfortable with Kankuro just staring at him. Kankuro looked offended.

“I thought we were pals! The bestest of bros! But you didn’t tell me you were in love!” Kankuro accused and Mirio looked at him shocked, “And I was so oblivious that I am the only one that didn’t know! I could have been your wingman earlier!”

“Wait, I haven’t told anyone ever, how do people know?” Mirio asked, terrified. 

“Honestly I am so dumb. It’s so obvious you are in love with Tamaki!” Kankuro snorted and Mirio looked mortified, “Look, people figured it out in first year!”

“But I wasn’t in love, I just loved hi- oh.” Mirio blinked, “Have I always been in love?” 

“There is time for philosophy later!” Kankuro dismissed, “Why didn’t you tell me!” Kankuro demanded before adding, “You didn’t have to tell me, I just want to know.” 

“I didn’t tell you, or anyone, because Tamaki would never love me. Besides, I don’t want him to find out and it ruins his safe place.” Kankuro deadpanned.

“Tamaki certainly can love you. Trust me. Even if he doesn’t like you like that, he would never let it come in between you guys. You need to tell him, you’re only hurting yourself and him if you don’t.” Kankuro informed him seriously, “But hey! Now that I know I can be the best wingman ever!”

“You definitely would be,” Mirio smiled, “But I don’t think I should tell him.” Kankuro groaned.

“That’s basically the same thing as not telling him that you have a body in the trunk. If he isn’t aware of it, the body will rot and you both will get caught by the police, no one wants that outcome.” 

“I guess I will think about it.” Mirio decided.

“Please don’t think too much about it… you are more of an action type of guy…” Kankuro sighed, standing up. Mirio gave him a thumbs up and the pair left the room to go and find the rest of their crazy friends. 

They decided to go to the sound room first, since there were no texts saying that they had left. 

Thankfully they were all there, including Nemuri, so they didn’t have to go searching for them. 

“Hey you guys!” Nejire waived.

“Hey!” Mirio greeted, “Tamaki, are you feeling a bit better now?” Tamaki turned bright red and nodded. 

Mirio was confused, “Did you actually develop a fever?” Tamaki shook his head and turned an ever darker red.

“Hey maybe something’s going around! Shi seemed to have one earlier too!” Kankuro exclaimed, and Temari facepalmed, shaking her head. Kankuro suddenly got an idea.

“Tamaki! Why don’t you let Mirio take you home. Even if you don’t have a fever, you still look like you aren't feeling too well!” Kankuro shoved Mirio forward, winking at him.

Temari frowned, “If you still are not feeling well you seriously may want to let us take you home, we were planning on going out to eat... but I am sure Yamada and Aizawa wouldn't be opposed to us cooking at our house, right?” Yamada perked up.

“YEAH!!! LEt’s do that instead!” Yamada pumped his fist in the air, and Aizawa’s hair was floating.

“But if you are not even up with that, that’s totally fine! Just let us know!” Temari smiled.

“I feel better… and hungry, we should go so we can eat.” Tamaki said softly, and Aizawa grinned.

“I agree. Nemuri, since you are just going to invite yourself over, you can be incharge of going to the store.” Aizawa ordered.

“Can I go with her? So I can make sure that what she gets can actually make a meal?” Kankuro asked innocently.

“HEY!” Nemuri complained.

“That’s a good idea, Kankuro, and you kids should invite your parents! Or at least tell them what is going on and ask permission of course…” Yamada said.

Mirio and Nejire nodded, pulling out their phones and Tamaki stayed silent. 

Mirio and Tamaki left with Mirio’s dad, with all of them promising to be there for dinner, Nejire left with her parents, but they couldn’t make it because of their work. 

Nejire’s dad was a cop and her mom was a surgeon, her dad was on call and her mother had scheduled surgeries to perform. 

That left Kankuro and Nemuri to head off to the store, Nemuri bouncing with happiness at the prospect of spending time with her nephew.

Temari and Yamada waved them goodbye as they headed in the opposite direction, Nemuri needing to go and collect her things. 

“You listeners ready to go?” Yamada asked, cheerly.

“I was ready to go when we got here.” Aizawa stated drily. 

“Sho!” Yamada sighed, walking to the car. 

“You did well, Temari.” Gaara commented, and Temari looked at him.

“Aw, thanks little bro!” Temari sniffed, reaching her hand out to ruffle Gaara’s hair but stopped when Gaara flinched backwards. 

“Sorry,” Gaara muttered.

“It’s fine bro, don’t worry about it.” Gaara did worry about it. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his head, and she patted his head twice, then smiling at him.

“Let’s get home and make the house ready for guests!” Yamada declared. Temari rolled her eyes. 

They all, especially Yamada, were sure to keep the house very clean. It was kind of a habit for the siblings. 

Everyone got into the car and as they drove out of the parking lot, Yamada started messing with the radio.

“For your achievements today we need a fitting soundtrack!” Yamada announced and Temari groaned. Kankuro was lucky that he had missed the non-stop congratulations when Nejire and her had found the sound room. Sure Kankuro was congratulated too, but he didn’t have to suffer through ten minutes worth of it. 

“Hizashi…” Aizawa sighed, sinking lower in the driver’s seat as ‘We Are The Champions’ started blasting through the speakers.

Yamada obliged Aizawa’s unspoken request and turned the volume down, however, he immediately started screeching the lyrics which was louder than the music. 

“ _ Can he not?”  _ Shukaku groaned, “ _ Wait, I thought about it… I don’t think he can…”  _ Gaara snorted and shot a look at Temari. She giggled and rolled her eyes.

Gaara sat with his head against the window, sand in his ears, the entire way home.

**_~~~_ **

Kankuro almost fainted when they got to Nemuri’s vehicle. 

It was a glossy red convertible with black leather seats. 

“THIS is your car?” Kankuro gasped and Nemuri nodded.

“Do you like him? He has been my partner in crime, well, fighting crime since I established my agency.” She said proudly, “Of course he has had some upgrades since then… some of them are not legal to be used on the streets, but I did upgrade the seats and got him re-painted three years ago.” Kankuro grinned at her.

“I love him.” Kankuro declared, looking at Nemuri with a new found respect. 

“Ah, do you now?” Nemuri winked, “Who’s the special boy?” Kankuro turned beat red.

“NO! I meant your car!” Kankuro sputtered.

“Just messing with you.” Nemuri laughed, “But you can always come to me for love advice.” She winked again and Kankuro thought for a moment.

“Actually,” Kankuro said, as they were getting in the car, “Nejire pointed out I was oblivious to people in love… and I wouldn’t care but… I wanna be there for people I guess? So maybe do you know any like signs of someone being in love?” 

Nemuri patted his head and then put her finger on her chin as she started the car, “Oh you poor boy, well everyone varies but there are usually universal signs of people being in love! First, blushing or acting flustered a lot around or at the mention of the person or people, constantly staring, being very protective of the person or people, and they do little things that a person generally wouldn’t do otherwise. Now. All of these could be just coincidences and they aren't in love, but if they have all of these, you can safely assume that they could be in love.” Nemuri summarized. 

Kankuro blinked, “That is a lot of maybes.”

“Yup! Love is very complicated, you should know something about that yourself, with that certain someone in your class.” Nemuri teased.

“Oh true,” Kankuro nodded, “I don’t get why Mirio wouldn’t just tell Tamaki that he loves him!” Nemuri laughed.

“That’s not what I meant my adorable nephew, it seems you need to search for the signs of love in yourself first before you go and turn it on other people.” Kankuro just looked confused and continued thinking about what she had said until they pulled up at the supermarket. 

“Ok chef, what are you wanting to make tonight?” Nemuri asked as they walked into the supermarket. 

Yamada had explained to her that he had relinquished control of the kitchen to Kankuro for a while because the kid liked to cook and was pretty good at it. 

“I was thinking lasagna, it is better for serving a lot of people! Kind of…” Knakuro said, “Honestly, I have always wanted to make it but father had a vendetta against the food and he was in charge of any food we had available in the house.” Kankuro admitted. 

“Well you definitely can make it now! We can make like three different kinds! You can order us all around and stuff!” Midnight cheered as she grabbed a shopping cart.

“Well… not Gaara,” Kankuro replied, “Yamada has forbidden him from helping in the kitchen.”

“Aww.” Nemuri sympathised, “So what all do we need?” 

Kankuro decided to make one three cheese lasagna, one italian sausage, and one spinach and chicken lasagna. He remembered reading about spinach and then chicken lasagna and was curious as to what would happen if he mixed them together and Nemuri said to do whatever he wanted. 

They picked up all of the necessary items and then Nemuri stopped in the middle of an aisle  **_(Iwa spends five minutes trying to spell aisle as Shinji watches as she struggles and begs for help)_ ** .

“Ok… so I think we should buy stuff to do a little celebration. So what do you say we do this as fast as possible by splitting up and grabbing everything.” Midnight suggested, an evil grin on the hero’s face, “So I will go get the food we would need for it, and you should go get things like balloons and whatever else you can think of, then we will meet by the cash registers. Get whatever you want. Doesn’t even have to be for this, I need to spoil you all anyways!” Kankuro beamed at her and the two fist-bumped and went in opposite directions. 

Kankuro swung by the cart choral to pick up his own cart before heading in the direction he assumed party items would be. 

Kankuro had never been to a store alone before so he wasn’t completely sure what the layout of a store would be like. 

**_(Knakkukrok this is what my fingers involuntarily typed, thought I would share.)_ ** Kankuro walked through the store till he found the balloons that floated. He assumed Nemuri wanted those and not the ones that you always saw on the floor that you blew up yourself. 

He told the person blowing them up that he needed twenty balloons of blue and yellow balloons, for UA colors. The guy looked at him weird and Kankuro was concerned. He had never bought balloons before, did he not buy enough?

To be safe, he bought ten more balloons in white and the person looked even more confused. The person tied ten balloons to each one of the three black weights he pulled out, and handed him a slip that would be given to the cashier at check out. 

Kankuro put all of the balloons in his cart, and started wheeling it down the aisles, now with considerably more blocking his line of sight than before.

In the distance, he spotted something that he didn’t think he would see in a supermarket, cacti.

Kankuro rushed over to the cacti and stared at them in wonder. 

He had never seen so many cacti, not even when he had went and bought the cactus for Gaara (that is a story for another time), and he had found Spikasaurus Rex in the street outside their house when he was taking out the garbage. 

He didn’t think the poor thing would make it but he nursed her back to health!  **_(Actually he made it worse and killed her, but who are we to crush the poor boi’s reality?)_ **

He didn’t know how long he stood looking at the cacti, but a sudden announcement through the loudspeakers brought him back to reality. 

Kankuro shook his head and got back on task, only to realize he had no idea where he was. 

“Oh no.” Kankuro despaired. 

**_~~~_ **

“YOU WILL PAY!!! MY CAKE WAS ONE SECOND OVER COOKED AND THERE WAS TOO MUCH FROSTING ON IT!!!” The man screamed at the poor old lady across the divider in the bakery.

Midnight sighed. She had gone to pick out a random cake, and when she had gone to ask the bakers to write something on the top, she came across a large hairy man yelling at an elderly lady. 

Midnight recognized the man. He had a werewolf quirk which made him naturally angry. He had been in trouble with the law, but instead of locking him up, they sent him to mandatory anger management to try and help him. He didn’t end up going and therefore went to jail for the remainder of his required therapy.

Apparently it was a bad day. 

The lady was pretty short and rounded, with a very clean bright pink apron. The apron had what looked to be child drawn flowers embroidered onto it. 

“Hey Harry.” Midnight greeted camly. Harry turned to face her with a snarl.

“Midnight.” He scoffed.

“Look Harry, take a deep breath and walk away. I am sure she will re-bake your cake. I will pay for it.” Harry growled, baring his teeth.

“NO!”

“Ok, but you need to calm down, can I help you? I really don’t want to do this the hard way. That will take you back to therapy.” Midnight warned. Harry started to relax until someone in the store spoke up.

“YEAH YOU HAIRY VILLIAN!” Harry snapped, running forward into the crowd, only to pass out as Midnight used her quirk.

The store manager hurried forward.

“Sorry about the customers knocked out on your floor, but I have to call the police.” Midnight informed them, and they nodded. 

“Hello?”

“Hi Officer Terry. We have Harry here again. You will have to send two squad cars. Everything was fine until one of the customers started calling him a villain. You will have to look at the tapes for that though. If you go about it the right way you can get him for slander and interfering with a hero’s work or reckless endangerment.”

“Alright, I shall be on my way as soon as I find my partner.” With that Midnight hung up.

Midnight walked over to the bakery that was not affected by her quirk because of the glass case. 

“Sorry about all the trouble ma’am. Are you still ok to do business?” Nemuri asked hopefully.

“Of course! And it is no bother. I just feel bad for that poor boy.” The lady said, shaking her head.

“Alright! My name is Midnight, well my hero name anyways, and I was hoping you could write ‘Congratulations’ on this cake!” Nemuri presented the chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting.

“Sure! That is easy enough! My name is Agari.” Agari said, taking the cake.

“So, I was also wondering if I could order a cake? My friends are adopting kids and I decided to throw a party for my new niblings!” Nemuri smiled.

“Actually, I am just filling in today, I can’t take orders, but I can tell my friend tomorrow if you would like?”

“Oh! Do you fill in a lot?” Midnight asked.

“Occasionally, I run my own bakery so I get pretty busy. But when a friend needs help, I do my best!” 

“That is so cool!” Nemuri cheered, “Do you take orders?” she added.

The lady nodded, “Yup! The bakery is called Sunrise Bakery, it is just a few blocks down the road.”

“Well I will certainly stop by and place an order!” Nemuri exclaimed. Agari smiled, handing over the cake.

“Well I will certainly look forward to your visit! I hope you like the cake!” Nemuri looked down to see the most elegant handwriting she had ever seen.

“I love the cake! It is amazing!!” Nemuri praised. With a goodbye, Nemuri walked away to go get ice cream, excited to see the lady’s bakery. 

  
  



	63. Chapter 60 ~ Triple Threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW 60 CHAPTERS!!!!!
> 
> Like oops… we are only like… four weeks into the plot… congratulations for sticking with us so far! We hope you are enjoying this journey as much as we are. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SHINJI soon. 
> 
> Seriously tho… like you guys’ comments give us life. My responses may be strange cause I, Iwa, am socially inept but love talking to people… 
> 
> And I, Shinji, am too socially anxious to reply so I have Iwa do it!
> 
> Therefore, you guys are stuck with me for as long as you stick with the things we write… sorry XDDD
> 
> me: we should probably move on for the day. Also me: LOOK HERE IS MORE CONTENT IN THAT DAY!!! WHAT ELSE CAN I POSSIBLY WRITE? And this right here is why we are at chapter 60 and only at the Sport’s Festival… sigh. Welp… here is more in the same day we have been on for like uh… five chapters… but yeahhhhhh… (laughs in author) Enjoy the happiness while it lasts…………………. 
> 
> Technical issues made this chapter a bit short… but we felt that it did end naturally so we are not that upset about it. As this week goes on, we will be considering increasing our updates… cause we had gotten pretty far ahead, but it is not a 100% guarantee, as this week was a mess for us… BUT IT IS OVER hahahaha so we shall see :)

Bakugo hated shopping. JK JK…

(Knakuor) Kankuro whipped around nervously, trying to look for anything that he recognized. 

He didn’t recognize anything. Well, except the cacti, but he had been staring at them for who knows how long.

He must have looked as lost as he felt because someone came up to him through his panic.

“Are you lost too?” A woman with lavender hair and a devilish smile asked.

“Uh… yeah?” Kankuro blinked. 

“Great. You think it would be easy to get out of a supermarket, right?’ the woman laughed and Kankuro nodded.

“If my sister finds out I will never live this down.” Kankuro sighed and the woman perked up.

“Oh! Oh.” The woman said deflating, “Yeah if my brothers find out it will be the same for me…”

“The teasing type?” Kankuro asked.

“One is, yeah.” The woman said nodding. 

“Older or younger?” Kankuro interrogated. 

“I’m the oldest, but not by much, one hour at the most.” The woman replied.

“Oh! You’re a twin as well?” Kankuro enthused.

“No, I am a triplet! But you are a twin then, that’s so cool! I don’t see many other twins and triplets around here.” 

“Yeah! There is me and my sister, and then my baby bro! I know another pair of twins from school, but that is about all.” 

“How-” The woman paused, “Oh, sorry, I guess I should introduce myself! My name is Natiad.”

“My name is Kankuro!” 

“How old is your baby brother? And you and your sister of course. We are all eighteen!” 

“My sister and I are seventeen and I guess my baby brother isn’t exactly a baby anymore… he is a first year in high school… I still see him as my baby brother.”

“Aww, that’s exciting! I always feel super proud when my siblings accomplish something big!”

“Yeah! He is growing so much! He even has friends now!” Kankuro shared.

“Oh, was he bullied? If so I will totally beat them up for you guys! That always worked for my brothers bullies!” 

“No…” Kankuro said nervously, “It was kinda our father’s fault… and you can’t beat him up… unless you dig up his body…”

“Oh did you kill him?” Natiad questioned.

“No! He was murdered… now we have two dads!” Kankuro explained, “I think if it was just my sister and I we would have gone on our own, but our brother needed an actual family.” 

“Yeah… I get that… we are on our own too. But we have each other and that is what matters!” Kankuro nodded and smiled at her. 

“Want to try and get out of here?” Kankuro asked.

“Sounds like a great idea.” Natiad sighed, gratefully. 

As they walked through the store, they talked more about themselves and their siblings. 

Natiad’s siblings were identical twins. They had dark blue hair and near polar opposite personalities. One was crazy and loud, and the other was quiet and expressive. Both twins were shy around people and Natiad joked that she took all of the confidence in the womb. 

Kankuro told Natiad about how his sister was a mother hen but also really sweet but extremely scary when she needed to be. He also told her that his brother was extremely socially awkward but getting better, and also inherently kind but hated loud noises. He said that his brother also had an affinity for cats and the animals flocked to him and seemed to love him immediately. 

They eventually found the front of the store but immediately grew concerned when they saw the police. 

Once they figured out the situation they immediately relaxed and said their goodbyes. 

Before Kankuro could leave, Natiad called out to him.

“Wait! Let me give you my number! It’s not everyday you meet someone like us afterall!” Kankuro grinned and typed in the number that Natiad provided. 

**_Unknown Number_ **

Kankuro [5:23 pm]: Hi!

Unknown Number [5:23 pm]: Hi!

_ Unknown Number changed their name to Triple Threat _

_ Triple Threat changed Kankuro’s name to Double Trouble  _

“I like the names.” Kankuro grinned, “I’ll have to text you later then, I have to go and cook dinner!”

“Yeah! Goodbye again!” Natiad waived, heading out of the store. Kankuro waited by the registers for Nemuri, and as he waited, he got out his phone to see a plethora of text messages.

‘Oh great.’ Kankuro thought.

**_Spikasaurus_Rex_ **

real_auntie ™ [5:01 pm]: Just so you know there was an incident at the supermarket involving the police so we may be later than expected. 

DADzawa [5:01 pm]: Is Kankuro ok? What is going on? Kankuro?

real_auntie ™ [5:02 pm]: Awww you really do care! Don’t worry Kankuro is fine, it was just Harry, I have told you about him before, and another person provoked him and stuff. It all good dad.

real_auntie ™ [5:02 pm]: Actually, Kankuro wasn’t even there! We split up.

DADzawa [5:02 pm]: YOU DID WHAT!?

DADzawa [5:02 pm]: Kankuro? Are you there? 

DADzawa [5:03 pm]: NEMURI YOU GO FIND HIM NOW!

real_auntie ™ [5:04 pm]: I’m sure he is fine! He is a teenager! Besides, how much trouble could he get into in a supermarket?

DADzawa [5:04 pm]: ARE YOU INSANE! YOU TEACH THE CHILDREN! YOU KNOW HOW INSANE THEY ALL ARE!

fan_niece [5:04 pm]: Dad chill. He probably just got lost. In that case, ANSWER YOUR PHONE YOU IDIOT!

YamaDAD [5:05 pm]: KANKURO IS MISSING?

DADzawa [5:05 pm]: ...that is probable Temari 

DADzawa [5:05 pm]: And I thought you were taking a nap Hizashi.

YamaDAD [5:05 pm]: My dad senses were tingling

DADzawa [5:06 pm]: That’s not a thing

YamaDAD [5:06 pm]: Says the one with the perfect dadar

DADzawa [5:06 pm]: A what?

DADzawa [5:06 pm]: And Nemuri you better be finding our kid. 

YamaDAD [5:07 pm]: You know, dad senses but like a radar? 

YamaDAD [5:07 pm]: Dadar.

_ YamaDAD changed DADzawa’s name to DADar _

DADar [5:07 pm]: not funny Hizashi.

YamaDAD [5:08 pm]: Hilarious.

fan_niece [5:10 pm]: Nemuri-sensei, did you find Kankuro?

fan_niece [5:15 pm]: Auntie?

fan_niece [5:21 pm]: ANYONE?

bean_nephew ™ [5:21 pm]: Hi. 

fan_niece [5:21 pm]: BABY BRO!

YamaDAD [5:22 pm]: GAARA!

real_auntie ™ [5:23 pm]: NEPHEW!

cat_nephew [5:24 pm]: BABY BRO!

fan_niece [5:24 pm]: You better have a good explanation for this.

cat_nephew [5:24 pm]: Uh….. so….. I kinda got distracted by cacti… then I got lost… then I made a friend I think… and uh oops?

YamaDAD [5:25 pm]: At least you are safe!

_ fan_niece changed cat_nephew’s name to needs_a_leash  _

needs_a_leash [5:25 pm]: I’m not gonna deny it. 

needs_a_leash [5:25 pm]: see you guys soon.

real_auntie ™ [5:26 pm]: Yeah! I see him now!

YamaDAD [5:26 pm]: Nemuri, we will be talking about this later.

real_auntie ™ [5:26 pm]: oops…

_ real_auntie ™ changed YamaDAD’s name to AngryBirb _

_ AngryBirb changed real_auntie ™’s name to ded_aunty _

fan_niece [5:27 pm]: oof. 

Kankuro waived to Nemuri as she approached but she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Uh, what’s wrong?” Kankuro asked nervously.

“That is a lot of balloons.” Nemuri noticed.

“Oh, well I have never bought balloons before so I kinda said whatever, but then the person looked at me weird so I added more… although I should have probably been aware when he then looked at me like I was insane… but, we have balloons?” Kankuro supplied. 

“Well… it certainly should be interesting to get them all home…” Nemrui muttered, looking at the balloons warialy. 


	64. Chapter 61 ~ The Never Ending Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ello everyone! Sorry again for the late update. However, we are going to try and do two updates a week! We haven’t decided on a day yet, or it just may be two every Friday, that way if we end up not making the two one week, it is like nothing changed. So yeah!  
> Also I hate myself for not being done with this day yet… It’s my fault… I keep being like, what iffffffff and Shinji is like yussss and so yeah. Life happens. But we hope you enjoy it anyways. (we are getting a new doc already so there is weird stuff at the bottom of the chapter lol)  
> :)  
> (mildly threatening smiley face)  
> :)

When they had gotten home, Yamada had started running around the house, searching for things to clean. 

Gaara and Temari just sighed. Temari went to go and feed the cats while Gaara decided to try and help Yamada clean. 

Yamada was currently vacuuming the rugs near the door where they put their outdoor shoes. Gaara frowned at the man before lifting the sand out of the carpets. 

A yelp was heard as Yamada jumped backwards, tripping over the vacuum cord, and nearly hitting Mustachio as he crashed down. 

Mustachio let out a disgruntled chirp and ran off, leaving Yamada to stare in horror at the amount of sand that had just come out of his carpets. He then turned his gaze to the vacuum cleaner in utter betrayal, there had to be at least two ounces of sand floating in the air. Finally, Yamada turned towards Gaara, determination in his eyes.

“You.” Yamada stated, “Are amazing. And terrifying. I see my cleaning is not satisfactory. I turn to you, master.” Gaara stared at him blankly before turning around and going upstairs, taking his newly acquired sand with him. 

Little did Yamada know, he put the sand there on purpose and didn’t want the man vacuuming it up. The man may have an aneurysm if he knew how much sand Gaara had stashed everywhere, especially after the USJ. 

Gaara floated into his room, landing on his bed. He decided that he would have to find a different place near the door for this sand, seeing as Yamada had found this one. 

Gaara got back out his phone and opened his text messages. He hadn’t gotten a text from Shinso yet but he had several from Midoryia.

**_Midoriya_ **

Midoriya [3:20 pm]: You’re sister was so close!

Midoriya [3:20 pm]: *your 

Midoriya [3:25 pm]: Sorry, I realize that that was insensitive.

Midoriya [3:29 pm]: I understand if you hate me now.

Gaara [4:00 pm]: I don’t hate you. 

“ _ And?”  _ Shukaku raised his metaphorical eyebrows.

Gaara [4:00 pm]: And I thought she was close as well.

Midoriya [4:01 pm]: oh, that’s good!

Midoriya [4:01 pm]: That you don’t hate me, not that your sister didn’t win! That must be hard for her.

Gaara [4:02 pm]: Yes. It wouldn’t make sense for me to hate a friend. I don’t think she minds that much. 

Midoriya [4:02 pm]: Oh! Sorry for assuming!

Gaara [4:02 pm]: It’s fine.

Midoriya [4:03 pm]: So… what’s up?

Gaara [4:03 pm]: My ceiling, why? 

Midoriya [4:04 pm]: Haha.

Gaara [4:04 pm]: haha?

Midoriya [4:04 pm]: The ceiling. I’m dying of laughter.

Gaara [4:05 pm]: Stop dying call a doctor. 

Midoriya [4:05 pm]: no! It’s a figure of speech… I’m not actually dying… sorry. Now I am thinking that you actually didn’t understand my question before.

Gaara [4:06 pm]: Oh. but what if you were actually dying? And what do you mean? The ceiling is above me?

Midoriya [4:06 pm]: When someone casually says what’s up, they usually mean ‘what is going on?’ 

Midoriya [4:06 pm]: I will make sure to make anything I say more clear next time!! Especially if I think I am dying （＾ω＾）

Gaara [4:07 pm]: oh. Thank you. Apparently we are having dinner at my house with my siblings and their friends. Currently I am in my bed texting you. My brother is with the weird aunt lady shopping and the rest of them are cleaning while tired takes a nap I think. 

Midoriya [4:08 pm]: tired? Weird aunt lady?

Gaara [4:09 pm]: My new father? I think. And the lady said that she is our new aunt.

Midoriya [4:10 pm]: Oh, ok. 

Midoriya [4:10 pm]: Do you know what you are having for dinner?

Gaara [4:11 pm]: no. That is why Kankuro is at the store. 

Midoriya [4:11 pm]: I hope it is good!

Gaara [4:12 pm]: everything Kankuro makes is good.

Midoriya [4:12 pm]: Your brother cooks? That’s so cool! I can’t even make rice in a rice cooker… I’ve been banned from the kitchen…

Gaara [4:13 pm]: Me too.

Midoriya [4:13 pm]: Wow! That’s kinda funny that we have that in common 

Midoriya [4:13 pm]: Oh! I got to go eat dinner now actually, I’ll text you later!!

Gaara [4:14 pm]: bye.

Gaara hesitated before clicking on Projectile and sending a quick hi, before setting his phone down and brainstorming other places to put sand in the house.

**_~~~_ **

Temari sighed as she watched Yamada frantically dusting every surface in the living room. She was lying on her back, legs crossed, trying to summon up the courage to tell Yamada to chill while also surfing through her phone. 

“What time do you think they should come over?” Temari called out eventually, “And I think this room is pretty clean…” Yamada looked at her thoughtfully.

“Well, whenever, you guys can hang out until dinner starts.” Yamada ignored the other half of her statement and continued his task. 

Temari rolled her eyes and texted the group chat.

**_High Five_ **

1#Fan [4:20 pm]: Yo. Yamada said you guys were welcome whenever.

It’same,Mirio! [4:21 pm]: Alrighty! Tamaki, my dad, and I will be there soon!

AShipper [4:21 pm]: Heyyyyy… @MurderCatWithAMustache, what’s for dinner?

1#Fan [4:22 pm]: I would also like to know.

AShipper [4:29 pm]: HELLOOOOO?

AShipper [4:34 pm]: ARE U THEREEEEEEE 

AShipper [4:34 pm]: Also I am almost at your house. 

1#Fan [4:35 pm]: Uhhhh Kankuro? Where are you????

AShipper [4:36 pm]: Here!

It’same,Mirio! [4:36 pm]: Here!!

It’same,Mirio! [4:36 pm]: It’s really strange we got here at the same time

AShipper [4:36 pm]: yes… strangely convenient…

1#Fan [4:36 pm]: I am coming to the door, please don’t ring the doorbell unless you want to be smothered. 

Temari rushed to the door as fast as she could, barely jumping over one of the cats that had crossed her path, and opened it.

“Hi,” Temari said breathlessly, “Come in.” Mirio shot her a smile and dragged Tamaki into the house, his dad following closely behind along with a bouncing Nejire.

Temari shut the door as Yamada squeaked as he saw the guests.

“Temariiii! Why didn’t you tell me they were almost here! I would have gotten the snacks and the drinks out already!!!” Yamada whined, not that they had much of either of those two things, but that was beside the point.

“Don’t worry about it Mr. Yamada! This was a spur of the moment thing anyways! It’s just good to see you again!” Mirio’s dad cheered, a bright smile etched on his face. 

“Ok, if you say so. But come in! And let me know if there is anything you need!” Yamada perked up and started ushering them all to the living room, “We are not totally sure when dinner will be or what it even is, since Kankuro and Nem-Midnight- seemed to have gone MIA…” Yamada trailed off and Mirio’s dad took one of the recliners while the three friends piled on the couch. 

“That’s fine!” Mirio smiled, “I am sure they will turn up eventually.” Tamaki nodded while Nejire and Temari looked at each other and snorted.

“Kankuro has a problem with attracting trouble plus he has a habit of being distracted. From what I have seen of Midnight… let’s just say I don’t think the two of them are a very good pair… they probably set something on fire or got lost on Mars.” Temari sighed reaching for her phone again, before setting it back down after not seeing a message from her brother. 

“Speaking of brothers, where is your other one?” Mirio’s dad asked, looking around. 

“He is up in his room, I will text him to see if he feels comfortable enough to come down… although he may be trapped by the cats…” Temari muttered, reaching for her phone yet again and sending a quick text to Gaara.

“Trapped by cats?” Nejire asked confused, Mirio and his father seemed to share that sentiment.

“Yeah, for some reason cats really like Gaara and sometimes all four of the cats end up on top of him. It is adorable. He was at this cat cafe yesterday and all of the cats flocked to him, it’s like he is a cat magnet.” Temari laughed, causing the others to chuckle along, Yamada grew excited.

“Look! I have pictures of it!” They spent the next five minutes scrolling through Yamada’s camera roll showing off pictures of yesterday and other moments Yamada had sneakily snapped pictures of. 

The message Temari sent Gaara was marked as read, but there was no response, so Temari figured he would just come down when he was ready.

However, the messages to Kankuro just read delivered, and everyone was starting to get worried. 

“Nemuri isn’t answering either.” Aizawa grumbled from the recliner across from Mirio’s father. Yamada had been at the point where he was about to collapse from exhaustion, so Aizawa had dragged his unwilling husband to their bedroom, threw him on the bed, then shut the door behind him.

He was going to initiate a threat, but Yamada was already asleep as he had gone to shut the door. 

So Aizawa had been stuck as the only other adult in the room for over thirty minutes now, and he was trying not to show his worry.

“Apparently there was an incident at the store, and they were already separated when this occurred.” Aizawa scowled down at his phone. He definitely should have sent Temari with them. 

“Of course they did. Now I really bet that Kankuro got lost.” Temari groaned while Nejire laughed.

“Yup! That is totally a Kankuro thing to do. Give him villains to fight and he can do it no problem. Send him to the grocery store and he ends up in another country.” Nejire nodded and Tamaki looked at her miserably.

“Don’t say that, the next thing you know he will run into a person with a teleportation quirk and it will come true.” Tamaki said and Nejire rolled her eyes at him.

“Tamaki is right. Let’s not tempt fate.” Mirio’s father agreed.

Aizawa scoffed at a text on his phone and immediately following, you could hear Yamada running to get to the living room. 

“I don’t care how good your supposed ‘dadar’ is, you were supposed to be resting.” Aizawa scolded while Yamada rolled his eyes.

“The resting was against my will! Besides, how could I rest when one of our children is missing!” Yamada fretted and Temari laughed at him, while some part of her warmed at the fact that the pair cared for them.

“He’s fine… probably.” Temari said, not really reassuring Yamada.

“Look, he is with a pro hero, right? So there should be nothing to worry about.” Mirio’s dad tried causing the family to look at each other with raised eyebrows.

“This is the same woman that jumped on stage at a strip club to show the workers how it is really done after busting an illegal drug trafficking ring, and who also seems to end up in the most trouble out of the fou-three of us.” Aizawa griminced.

Mirio, Temari, Nejire and Mirio’s dad all stared at him in shock.

“SHE REALLY DID THAT!?” Nejire and Temari exclaim together, “THAT’S AMAZING!” Yamada and Aizawa shared twin looks of pain and sighed, resigned to their fate.

Another ten minutes went by before Aizawa finally had enough.

“Ok. I am going to head to the store.” Aizawa announced, standing up.

“Me too!” Yamada declared, scrambling to follow before pausing, “As long as you guys are ok with that of course!” Temari rolled her eyes.

“Go. Might as well find up where he  _ ended  _ up.” Temari crossed her legs, “So, are you guys ready to start work studies again?” 

**_~~~_ **

Kankuro breathed in the fresh air as he flung himself out of the red convertible, balloons spilling out after him. 

Thankfully, the balloons were tied to a weight so they didn’t just float away. 

Midnight came around from the driver’s side cackling, “It’s your own fault, you shouldn’t have gotten thirty balloons.” Kankuro scowled up at her from his spot on the driveway. 

“Yeah, why did you get so many Kankuro?” Yamada asked, puzzled. 

The couple had been on their way by the time Kankuro texted, so they just pulled over and waited for the convertible to escort them the rest of the way home. 

Aizawa bristled at Nemuri and stalked past her, “You can get the groceries Nemuri.”

“No need to act like an angry cat Shota!” Nemuri called after him, causing him to hunch his shoulders and slam the door of the house behind him as he disappeared inside. 

“I swear we need to put GPS locators on you Kankuro.” Yamada laughed, going to help the struggling Kankuro with the multitude of balloons, “So why so many again?” Kankuro sighed and explained the ordeal with the balloon clerk as they brought the balloons inside, Nemuri following after them with the ‘party’ supplies. 

“Well the illusi-” Nejire stopped mid sentence, “Uh… what is with all of the balloons?” Kankuro silently screamed as he explained the story again, with slightly less detail.

When he was finished, Temari was hanging on to Nejire, laughing so hard she was crying, the others having a similar reaction, and even Tamaki cracked a smile. 

“Whatever.” Kankuro scoffed, wounded, “Laugh at me alllll you want.” This only caused the three to laugh harder while Tamaki walked over and patted his shoulder. 

Kankuro sulked over to the kitchen, where Nemuri was laying out the things they had gotten at the store.

“Well? Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?” Nemuri asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“No, I think Yamada and I have got this.” Yamada, having been in the other room apologising for leaving, somehow heard this and skidded into the kitchen, almost running into the island.

“You mean it?!” Yamada exclaimed, “You will cook with me?” Yamada looked like an overexcited puppy and Kankuro rolled his eyes.

“We have cooked together before, you know,” Kankuro reminded him, “and yes, unless you are going to get all weird about it.” Yamada immediately snapped to attention.

“Yes sir!” Yamada saluted.

“...That’s weird.” Kankuro deadpanned and Yamada pouted, but moved to receive instruction, “We are making Lasagna, I’ve always wanted to make it so… yeah.” Yamada clapped his hands together and the pair got to work, with everyone else congregating in the living room, being loud enough that the cooks could hear them. 

“So, Midnight, which of these two are you the sister of?” Mirio’s dad asked, innocently. Aizawa just sighed when Nemuri and Aizawa broke out laughing. 

“First, just call me Kayama. Second, neither. I met them in high school and we got really close. At one point we were even going to start an agency together.” Nemuri explained, and Aizawa’s expression turned dark.

“Oh really? I didn’t know that senesi, why didn’t you guys do that?” Mirio asked, quizzically.

“There was a fourth person. He died, the plan fell through.” Aizawa stated in a practiced monotone voice. 

The room fell silent after that, the only sounds being the ones from the kitchen and also the stray sounds of the pattering of cat feet. 

“Well, is your other brother going to come down for dinner?” Mirio’s dad asked awkwardly. 

“Yeah. I’ll go get him now.” Temari nodded once and got up, going up the stairs.

The group made some more small talk as they waited for Temari to come back with Gaara, and that she did.

Gaara was kola-ed onto Temari, still reading the book that he assumedly had been reading in his room. 

Temari walked over to the couch and Gaara detached himself from her without losing place in his book. 

“Aww” Nejire cooed.

“What exactly happened at the supermarket, Nemuri, Kankuro?” Temari asked, getting settled again in between Nejire and Gaara.

“Well after we got there, we split up so it would be faster!” Nemuri said, “Then that went out of the window.” Nemuri explained her part of things, pausing for a few questions. 

“HOW DARE THAT MAN CALL SOMEONE A VILLAIN JUST BECAUSE OF THEIR QUIRK!!!!” Temari seethed, clenching Gaara’s hand in her own, “THAT’S UNFORGIVABLE!” 

“You guys judge Shukaku…” Gaara muttered quietly and no one heard him except Shukaku, who was frozen in shock.

“I know. Disgusting right?” Nemuri agreed, “But besides that it was a great trip! Kankuro and I had a discussion about love and he made a new friend! It’s kinda funny cause they were both lost.” 

“Oh?” Temari’s mouth quirked, “Love? And you made a friend? Shocking.” Kankuro huffed from the kitchen.

“Kankuro here was asking about signs of love.” Nemuri informed her smirking, “Maybe he has a special someone in mind.” Kankuro flushed bright red.

“I DO NOT! IT WAS JUST A QUESTION!” Kankuro sputtered, Mirio’s dad let out a laugh.

“Ah yes, pinning. I had to go through a lot of that before Tamaki and Mirio got together. They were really bad.” All the eyes in the room stared at him in shock, “What?”

“MIRIO!!!!! FIRST YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CR-” Kankuro’s rant was cut off suddenly when Mirio slapped a hand over his mouth. 

“Dad! We are not dating!!” Mirio said, his face redder than a tomato and poor Tamaki looked like he was trying to phase into the couch with how he was pressing into it. 

“Wait, really?” Mirio’s dad asked puzzled. Temari was trying not to die from suppressing her laughter while Nejire and Nemuri were smiling like devils. Gaara and Aizawa looked done with the world and Yamada looked extremely confused.

“YES! We are NOT dating. Why would you think that? Just because I am gay doesn’t mean that I would date him! We are best friends, nothing more!” Mirio yelled defensively. 

There was a moment of silence before Tamaki looked up at him with a tear stained face.

“S-sorry I-I-” Tamaki tried to say before a sob cut him off and he ran out of the house.

“Tamaki!” Mirio shouted after him, staring at the door in shock, before collapsing to the floor with his head in his hands.

“Is it bad that I thought that you guys were together too?” Yamada stated awkwardly.

**_~~~(ok funny story. If this wasn’t going to be a late update and we weren’t wanting to get this day out of the way, this would have been the end…)_ **

“You two were always so close, even when you were kids, so when you grew even closer at the start of High School, I thought you had finally made a move. Why do you think I finally gave you both ‘the talk’ together? I’m sorry for assuming, I was just so happy for you two. You guys seemed to be so perfect for each other. I am so sorry.” Mirio’s dad cried as Nejire patted his back.

“I do like him like that… but I shouldn’t… that’s why I reacted so badly… now he will hate me.” Mirio said miserably. 

“That kid loves you, he could never hate you. Trust me.” Aizawa scoffed.

“He just probably now thinks that you are disgusted at the thought of a relationship with him... “ Nejire informed him, Mirio’s expression turning horrified as Kankuro nodded along.

“Wait! Hold up. This means you just gotta go tell him how ya feel! Now you know he loves you too!” Kankuro said, joyfully. Mirio looked down at his hands miserably.

“But what if he doesn’t like me?” Mirio asked and Kankuro looked him in the eyes.

“Look, I may not know much about love, but he definitely would not have reacted like that if he wasn’t in love with you.” Kankuro informed him, exasperated, “So go get your man!” Mirio’s face turned determined and he ran out of the house after Tamaki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writes a poem… names it Beep, Beep, Imma Sheep for fun  
> 27 years later…  
> English Teachers everywhere: OH MY, THE SYMBOLISM!! THE PURPOSEFUL LIFE MEANINGS!! SUCH A GREAT WORK!! 
> 
> Temari was depressed. She lost. But not by much. (me being done with fight scenes
> 
> Authors: *complaining that they wish they were farther in their writing*  
> Also Authors: *fooling around with find and replace for like 10 min trying to replace all of the spaces with ‘m’ crashing their computers....
> 
> Our readers: they put this lady in just to make a cake for the adoption  
>  Us: hahahahahhahahaha
> 
> What I originally was going to write: Aizawa murdered Nemuri and Kankuro got his body bag from inside the house. Gaara then teleported them to a desert and they buried the body.


	65. Chapter 62 ~ At The End Of The Day…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s happening folks. The wars begin. Technically some already started but oh vell… enjoy the double update!!

Tamaki ran through the rain with no clear path. 

‘ _ I shouldn’t be upset, I knew he would never love me.’ _ Tamaki thought to himself, ‘ _ Now he knows and he won’t want to be around me anymore. I am so selfish and disgusting.’  _ Tamaki collapsed sobbing. He didn’t even know where he was and he didn’t have it in him to care.

Everything was going wrong today. 

__ He messed up the sport’s festival then had a panic attack, and now he won’t have friends anymore. His parents didn’t even like him so maybe this was a sign to ju- a meow sounded next to him.

He looked down to see a grey and black cat nudging at his side. He recognized the cat from the Aizawa-Yamada household.

“W-what are y-you doing out here kitty?” Tamaki sniffled. The cat meowed again, rubbing up against Tamaki’s outstretched hand, “Aren't you cold?” The cat meowed again and ran off, Tamaki’s hand falling limply to his side. 

“Oh…” Tamaki said weakly, “I understand. I wouldn’t want to be around me either.” Tamaki fell over onto the ground and curled up into a ball.

Through the pounding of the rain, he thought he heard his name, but he knew he was just hearing things so he ignored it.

He couldn’t ignore it anymore when a hand was suddenly on his shoulder. 

Tamaki flinched away and scrambled to a sitting position tensing up when he saw Mirio.

“Tamaki…” Mirio whispered, “I am so sorry.” silent tears started falling down Mirio’s face, or was it just the rain? Tamaki couldn’t be sure.

“I know… we can’t be friends anymore, right?” Tamaki was numb as he awaited the response he knew was coming.  **_(what is this RotP? Jk jk, this one was wayyyy more angsty than we give it credit for… just not yet…..*sighs in knowledge*)_ **

“What?! No!” Mirio exclaimed, “Of course we can still be friends, unless you don’t want to of course…” Tamaki blinked up at him.

“Can...still be friends?” He said, confused.

“Well of course! But uh...” Mirio scratched his neck nervously, “I was kinda hoping… you’d like to be more? Unless you don’t want that!! Then we can just be friends again… if you still feel comfortable to be around me…” Tamaki blinked at him again.

“M-more?” Tamaki breathed, and Mirio scrambled.

“Uh yeah… uh… I mean not if you don’t want to… but uh… like dating?”

Tamaki sat in stunned silence while Mirio stood there flushed.

“Why?” It was Mirio’s turn to blink blankly at Tamaki.

“What do you mean? I am in love with you… have been for years apparently… I was too blind to see it. But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable I-”

“Why me?” Tamaki asked, broken, “I’m a mess and you deserve someone so much better than me.”

“NO!” Tamaki flinched, “Sorry… no, you are perfect. I have only ever wanted you. You are my world, Tamaki. I will be here for you as long as you let me, no matter if I am your friend or your boyfriend. I love you.” Tamaki started sobbing again, and Mirio freaked out.

“I understand if you don’t want me near you or whatever, or uh should I-” Mirio’s freak out was interrupted by Tamaki slamming into him and sealing their lips in a kiss. 

Which lasted less than one second because as soon as Tamaki realized what he had done he backed away panicking.

“I-I’m s-sorry I-” Tamaki stuttered, before karma took his debt and he was interrupted by Mirio kissing him back. 

They broke apart eventually and Tamaki hid his head in Mirio’s shoulder.

“So… uh, does that mean you will be my boyfriend?” Mirio asked, anxiously, and watched as the head in his shoulder nodded desperately.

“I love you too… for forever…” Tamaki mumbled, “I didn’t say anything cause I don’t deserve you… but I am selfish… sorry. I want to be your boyfriend, even if you will eventually leave me for someone better.” 

“No, I don’t deserve YOU.” Mirio stated firmly, “You are amazing Amajiki Tamaki. Don’t you ever forget it, my little Sunflower.” 

Tamaki almost passed out from sheer embarrassment, but managed to squeak out, “I can’t believe you came after me.”

“Of course I did, I love you. I even rained all the way here just to get to you.” Mirio smiled, and Tamaki groaned but let out a short laugh. 

The pair sat in the rain in silence, just enjoying each other’s embrace until Tamaki spoke up.

“I-I l-love you too.”

**_~~~_ **

By the time Mirio and Tamaki got back to the Aizawa-Yamada household, they were completely soaked and shivering, but both of them had smiles that seemed to radiate warmth and their linked hands got them a round of applause as they walked into the house.

The lasagna was on the table, and Kankuro was sending them two thumbs up. 

As they shivered, Yamada told them to stay where they were for a second so he could get towels to prevent the pair from tracking the water in the house. 

Once they were dry enough, they were ushered into the bathroom and given clothes to change into. Tamaki got some of Kankuro’s clothes, but Mirio was too big so he was stuck waiting for his clothes to go through the dryer. 

Tamaki forced him to wait in the bathroom, even though Mirio was perfectly comfortable without his clothes.

Once everyone was in dry clothes again, they all sat down to eat finally. 

“SO! Tonight! We have THREE types of lasagna. FIRST! In the green dish I am not sure why Yamada even has, A THREE CHEESE LASAGNA! SECOND! In what would be a normal glass dish if it weren’t cat shaped, AN ITALIAN SAUSAGE! AND FINALLY! We have a SPINACH AND CHICKEN LASAGNA in the ONLY normal glass dish in the house!!!” Kankuro announced, proud of himself, and Yamada looked wounded.

“Hey! We only have those dishes because they are presents! The cats seem to manage to break all of the normal ones but leave those intact, I have nothing to do with it!” Yamada said, indignantly.

“I know that he is telling the truth for the cat dish, I got that for them years ago!” Nemuri supported.

“This is amazing!” Temari praised, having ignored the entire exchange and went straight to the food. 

“Yeah!” Nejere agreed, having done the same thing.

The rest of the group reached for the lasagna and dug in, instantly agreeing.

Kankuro preened with the praise. 

“So! I forgot to tell you all last time, but you guys are all invited to the adoption party this Saturday! After school of course!” Nemuri announced, when everyone had finished eating.

The friends and Mirio’s dad all turned towards her in shock.

“NEMURIIIII, It’s not official yet! They may not approve us!” Yamada whined.

“Pu-leese.” Nemuri rolled her eyes, “You guys have been approved as foster parents and to adopt for two years, they just have to do a recheck as a formality. They are your kids now, you're stuck with them.” 

It was true, they filled for the ability to adopt when they were first considering kids so they didn’t have to wait years to get approved. It didn’t end up taking as long as it would for normal parents since they were pro heroes and there were no problems found in their home. 

Personally, Aizawa was upset that it was that easy for pro heroes to be approved for adoption. There were pro heroes that were horrible people behind closed doors and shouldn’t be allowed to be a mile from a kid after all. 

“That’s so exciting!” Nejere cheered, “I am so happy for you guys and I certainly will be there to support you! When is the hearing?”  **_(btw, this kinda resembles a real adoption process, but it is more of what we imagine it would be in this time period and other stuff.)_ **

“Well, the hearing is on Thursday, and we are not allowed to really know anything about that except what time they want us to show up at the courthouse. Then the house visit, and that could occur at any time now until the final court date which is on Friday as long as there are not any complications.” Aizawa explained to them. 

Everyone else gave their best wishes and congratulations, and then the conversation turned to Mirio and Tamaki.

“Sooo…. What’s the tea, sis?” Nejire asked, folding her hands.

Mirio and Tamaki both blushed scarlet.

“W-well, we are boyfriends now!” Mirio blushed, holding up his and Tamaki’s linked hands.

A chorus of ‘aw’s sounded through the room.

“About damn time.” Temari nodded, satisfied.

“I just found out Mirio had a crush today! I didn’t even get a chance to be a wingman!” Kankuro lamented.

“I think you were an amazing wingman earlier, Kankuro.” Mirio told him and Kankuro’s face lit up.

“That’s right! I was!” Kankuro agreed, tears threatening to spill.

“You guys are such an adorable couple!” Nemuri cooed.

Tamaki sank into his seat, embarrassed by all of the attention.

They talked for about another hour, somehow forgetting to go back to the topic of Kankuro’s new friend, no matter how many times he tried to bring her up.

“Well,” Mirio’s dad looked at his watch, “It’s getting late so I think we better be heading out.” The friends looked crestfallen but everyone gave Tamaki and Mirio their goodbyes, and Mirio’s dad as well of course, and they left the house. 

Nejere sighed as she checked her phone.

“I missed the last train that would have taken me back home.” Nejere sighed.

“Well, you are always welcome here!” Yamada told her.

“Yeah! You can sleep in my room like a sleepover!” Temari’s eyes glowed with childish excitement.

“Okay! As long as it is ok with the rest of the family.” Kankuro gave a big thumbs up and both Aizawa and Gaara shrugged. 

“Alrighty! Thank you guys so much!”

Nemuri ended up in a pair of Temari’s pajamas, and the two girls dragged everyone into the living room for a movie night, even the cats. 

“So what are we watching?” Yamada asked, sitting in front of the tv. 

Yamada had a plethora of DVDs… apparently he likes antiques. 

The three friends looked up from the pile of plastic cases on the floor.

“I have no idea. I don’t know a lot of movies, so...” Kankuro admitted, and Temari nodded along. Yamada, Nemuri, and Nejire gasped.

“That’s a crime. Guys, what should we start their movie education on?” Yamada asked.

“Well, I haven’t seen a lot of these due to how old they are, but one I have that is a totally classic and must watch is Princess Bride.”  **_(if you don’t know what this movie is, go watch it.) (seriously)_ ** Nejire said, picking up one of the oldest looking plastic cases.

“YES!” Nemuri shouted, “That’s definitely what we are watching!” Yamada gave a thumbs up and put the disk in the rainbow player. 

“I’m making coffee.” Aizawa announced, “and popcorn.” he added after Yamada shot him a look. Gaara looked up from his phone, his face hopeful.

“Of course Aizawa will make popcorn for you, Gaara!” Nemuri reassured him, and the boy sent her a confused glance.

“Pop...corn?” Nemuri winced but then returned the confused glance.

“So wait… that means you wanted coffee?” Gaara nodded, sending another hopeful glance in the direction of the kitchen where Aizawa had disappeared. 

“When… what are you teaching these kids, Shota?” Nemuri sighed.

“That was all Hizashi.” Aizawa called from the kitchen, and Nemuri turned to Yamada for answers. 

“So, uh… we took Gaara to a cat cafe… and I had him try coffee, which is fine… except the next morning he drank Shota’s entire pot of coffee in thirty minutes… so uh… yeahhhh.” Yamada explained. Nemuri sighed.

“Well, I guess it was inevitable in this house…” Nemuri admitted.

“So the movie! Let’s start it!” Yamada announced.

“I am not sure that is proper sentence structure…” Kankuro muttered to Nejire and Temari who burst out laughing. 

The three friends and Gaara were on the couch, Yamada and Shota were in one loveseat, and Nemuri was in the other.

As the others watched the movie, Gaara got out his phone, as he had lost interest. 

“ _ Really, Gaara? It’s an amazing movie!”  _ Shukaku scolded him, trying to see the screen over the phone.

“ _ I really don’t see the appeal to this whole movie thing.” _ Gaara said in return.

“ _ At least move so I can watch then.” _ Shukaku sighed.

Gaara shifted so that Shukaku could watch the movie over his phone.

A message popped up as soon as he got settled.

**_Projectile_ **

Projectile [8:49 pm]: THOSE CATS ARE ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:49 pm]: Yes. They are. 

Projectile [8:49 pm]: Don’t be surprised if I break into your house… 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:50 pm]: Ok. But I could just open the door. 

Projectile [8:50 pm]: ngl this started off as a joke… but now I may actually show up randomly…

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [8:51 pm]: ngl?

Projectile [8:51 pm]: not going to lie

“Whatcha doing, Gaara?” Temari asked, glancing over.

“Texting.” Gaara replied.

“Texting who?” Kankuro interrogated.

“Shinso.” 

“Your friend?” Temari perked up.

“Yes.” Gaara sighed.

“Whatcha guys talking about?” Nejire asked, joining in on the interrogation. 

“Shinso breaking into our house.”

“Uhhh… why is your friend going to break into our house?” Yamada asked, concerned, trying to ignore the fact that Gaara called it ‘our’ house.

“He wants to see the cats. He can’t have cats at his home because the people there said no.” Gaara explained dismissively. 

“Yamada?” Temari smirked, suddenly getting an idea.

“Yeahhhhhhhhh....?” Yamada answered, terrified of Temari’s face.

“Do we by any chance have any plans tomorrow?” 

“No… not that I know of…” Yamada said.

“Cool, cool… so you wouldn’t be opposed to people coming over tomorrow?”

“Nope!” 

“Gaara?” Gaara looked over at Temari who was sitting next to him, “Can I see your phone for a second.” Gaara nodded before handing the device over to her. 

**_Projectile_ **

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=)[8:56 pm]: Hi! This is Temari, Gaara’s sister. First, Gaara’s name is adorable! Second, you should totally come over to our house tomorrow! You can see the cats you seem so desperate to see :)

Projectile [8:57 pm]: REALLY?! I mean if it’s not a bother, I think I can get away from the fosters.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=)[8:57 pm]: Nope! Not a problem at all! 

Projectile [8:57 pm]: cool. So uh… when do I show up? Do I bring something for you guys?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=)[8:58 pm]: Just bring yourself at anytime! I have been informed we have no plans tomorrow!

Projectile [8:58 pm]: ok then… see you I guess…

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=)[8:59 pm]: Yup, I’ll give the phone back to Gaara now, after I give you our address of course!

Right before Temari was about to give the phone back to Gaara, a new text notification popped up. Recognizing the name, she clicked on it immediately. 

**_Midoriya_ **

Midoriya [9:01 pm]: So, how did dinner go?

Gaara [9:01 pm]: Personally, I think it went well. This is Gaara’s sister, Temari! We met briefly… I was wondering if you would want to come over tomorrow and hang out with Gaara?

Midoriya [9:02 pm]: Oh hi! And uh. Is Gaara ok with that?

“Hey… Gaara?” Temari asked.

“Hm?” Gaara sighed, resigned to watching the movie.

“Do you care if some of your friends come over tomorrow?” 

“No.” Gaara said.

**_Midoriya_ **

Gaara [9:03 pm]: Yup! Feel free to show up at any time! I shall send you the address!!

Midoriya [9:03 pm]: Uh… ok then, I think I should be able to come over.

When Temari gave the phone back to Gaara, he let out a sigh of relief. Aizawa also came back in with the popcorn and two cups of coffee at this point.

Gaara was stuck in the living room the rest of the night. Thankfully, he had coffee and his new friends to text to keep him company.


	66. Chapter 63 ~ There’s Another Day Dawning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone catch the Les Mis reference…. Feel free to drop a comment… about the story or just to talk to us…. #definitelynotlonely… Don’t feel obligated tho! We just love hearing from you guys! Thank you all for all of your support… I don’t think that is grammatically correct… but idc :)
> 
> Enjoy the double update guys! I was going to write more but it was really awkward so… have a threatening smiley face instead :)

**** Shinso sighed as he finally got off the train. He wished that he lived closer to Gaara’s house and school so he could just walk instead of taking the train. 

Shinso hated the train.

It was way too loud and uncomfortable. Too many people took the train and Shinso did not want to be one of them.

He was glad to finally breathe in the fresh afternoon air as he pulled up his phone again to follow the map to Gaara’s house.

He wasn’t sure what to expect when he got there. He was quite an Eraserhead fanboy and he had listened to Present Mic’s radio show for years but he had no idea what they were really like or how he was supposed to act around them.

He really hoped they were nice.

**_~~~_ **

Shinso looked around worriedly at the house in front of him. 

_ ‘What if- no. This is the right house according to the address, I am just going to go up and knock on the door.’  _

Shinso walked up to the door with determination in his gait. He raised his fist to knock on the door, but before it could make contact the door swung open.

“HELLO! YOU MUst be Shinso!” Present Mic shouted in his face, and he saw the raised hair of Eraserhead behind the man. 

“Hizashi. Don’t yell at our son’s friend please. You are going to get the cops called on us again for noise disturbance.” Eraserhead deadpanned.

“Sorry, Shinso.” Present Mic apologized, “I have a tendency to yell when excited… or scared…” 

“It’s fine, Present Mic, Eraserhead.” Shinso nodded respectfully and Eraserhead groaned.

“Please. It’s Yamada,” He gestured to his husband, “and Aizawa. Being called by our hero names at home is just weird.” Shinso nodded again and Yamada moved aside to let him in.

“Well, don’t just stand in the doorway all day long! Come on in! Gaara is in his room, we can either go get him or take you there.” Yamada informed him, pointing up the stairs.

“Note that his room is where the cats are.” Aizawa added, already leaving the front of the house to go do his own thing, “And we have to set up a time to start practicing, that is if you still want to be in the hero course.” Shinso looked at him surprised, then remembered what Gaara had gotten him into. He nodded desperately. “Ok. I will just have Gaara text you then.” with that his idol disappeared.

“I think I will just go up to his room then.” Shinso decided quite easily, as the cats were kind of the reason that he was there.

“Alrighty!” Yamada said and started for the stairs. Before they could start the ascent they were stopped by Temari.

“Hello Shinso!” Temari greeted cheerfully, and the blue haired girl behind her waved enthusiastically, “Hope you guys have fun!” Temari and the girl left in the direction that Shinso came from. 

Yamada and Shinso started heading up the stairs and they paused at a door. 

“Gaara? Shinso is here, can we come in?” Yamada asked, and as soon as he finished the question the door opened, sand retreating back to Gaara who was sitting cross legged on his bed with a book floating in front of his face.

Yamada waved and smiled at Shinso, “Let me know if you guys need anything!” Yamada walked back down the stairs, leaving the two alone. 

“Hey Gaara.” The book floated to where the pillow was and plopped down on it. 

“Cats.” Gaara nodded at the bed where four cats were in a cuddle pile. 

“I see… can I come over to pet them?” Shinso asked and Gaara nodded patting the other side of the cat pile, inviting Shinso to sit down. 

Shinso immediately booked it over to the bed and sat down.

“Hey there kitties.” Shinso said softly, petting the black one on the head, “You must be ink unless your sibling’s names don’t make sense at all.”

“Yeah, that’s ink.” Gaara nodded, confirming Shinso’s guess, “And this is Swirls, Mustachio, and Floof.” pointing to match each cat with their respective names.

“You guys are so adorable!” Shinso sat petting the cats for awhile before he started to get uncomfortable.

“So… uh… I haven’t really had friends before so obviously I haven’t done the whole hang out thing… so uh… what do we do?” 

Gaara shrugged.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had a friend in a really long time.” Gaara stared off into space for a bit, “Apparently, most people do what they enjoy, like a shared interest or something.”

“How do you figure that?” Shinso inquired and Gaara shrugged again.

“Shukaku said so and he is better at knowing people things than I am.” 

“Ah. Wonder why that is?”

“I have no idea.” Gaara answered.

**_~~~_ **

When he had told his mother that he had been invited over to a friend’s house she had been ecstatic. 

She kept asking him questions and insisted on getting Gaara’s parents’ phone numbers, which he quickly informed her he didn’t have, and then quickly promised that he would get when she looked like she was going to keep talking.

Before his mom could say anything else he had rushed out the door with a quick goodbye.

Now that he was on the train, he instantly regretted leaving his house and insisting he didn’t need a ride. 

As he was shoved for the fifth time into the person next to him, Izuku remembered why he didn’t take the train on Sundays.

He was grateful when he finally stepped off the train. 

Izuku had never been to this area before so he had set out from his house at 11 am. It was 1:00 pm when he arrived at Gaara’s house.

He had gotten turned around three separate times and now he was panicking at the front door.

‘ _ What if this is the wrong house? What if I make a bad impression? What if they hate me!? I don’t really know what to do at a friend’s house… the only friend I had when I was younger was Bakugo… and he didn’t really ask me to hang out. Maybe I should just go home… Maybe I should call mom and -’  _ Izuku’s internal crisis was cut off by the door opening and Present Mic appearing in front of him.

“O-ohImusthavethewrong-” 

“Hello Midoriya! So glad you could make it! Gaara is up in his room, I’ll take you there now!” Present Mic greeted him.

“Uhhh…” Midoriya stood in shock, his brian processing, “Wait a minute… if you are Gaara’s dad… and you are married to Aizawa-sensei… oh my….” 

“Yup! We are adopting Gaara and the twins! I didn’t realize you didn’t know, you did see us with him after the sports festival.” Midoriya blushed as he remembered the word vomit that had come out of his mouth on that day, “Plus Gaara doesn't do secrets… he just kinda says what’s on his mind…”

Midoriya blinked then nodded, blindly following Yamada when the man turned around and went into the house. 

Temari waved at him when he went by, going up the stairs. He shyly waved back and soon they stopped in front of a door. 

Yamada didn’t even bother knocking and just opened the door, announcing, “Hey guys! Midoriya is here!” Midoyria’s eyes widened as he met Shinso’s who also seemed surprised by the other’s presence. 

Yamada and Gaara glanced between the two with blank looks on their faces. 

“Did you guys know that the other was coming?” Yamada asked, a grin splitting his features. 

“Nope.” Shinso deadpanned and Midoriaya blushed in embarrassment.

“Ok then, you guys have fun… let me know if you need anything, same as earlier.” Yamada awkwardly closed the door as he left. 

“So uh… hi?” Midoriya awkwardly greeted, “Sorry I got lost?”

“Are you asking if you got lost, or are you apologizing for getting lost?” Shinso asked.

“Oh… uh… I know I got lost… I just meant to be here earlier… but it is nice to see you both!” 

Shinso laughed and Midoryia’s heart died.

“So what are you guys doing?” Midoriya asked, his heart sinking. Shinso’s stomach growled and there was an awkward silence.

“Shukaku said you should eat food, so I guess we are going to get food.” Gaara said, turning to Midoriya, “As long as that is ok with you.”

“Y-yeah, that’s fine.” Midoriya stuttered slightly confused, and Shinso turned to Gaara.

“I’m fine. I don’t want to impose.” Shinso asserted and Gaara paused for a few seconds before picking both Midoriya and Shinso up with his sand and started walking to the kitchen.

As they entered the kitchen, Shinso spoke up, “First, you sure this is ok, right? Shouldn’t we ask someone first? And… about who you mentioned earlier… isn’t that supposed to be a secret?” 

Gaara set them in separate chairs just as Yamada and Aizawa came into the kitchen.

“Shukaku?” Gaara shrugged and Aizawa facepalmed.

“HEY NO SAND IN THE KITCHEN!!” Yamada scolded Gaara, who rolled his eyes but the sand disappeared. 

“So he isn’t a secret?” Midoryia looked really confused as Gaara and Shinso were talking.

“Well, technically yes, but no.” Aizawa sighed, “It’s dangerous for Gaara if people know, but at the end of the day, it’s Gaara’s decision, so we technically can’t stop him… just don’t go telling other people.”

“Uh… Shukaku?” Midoriya asked. Gaara cocked his head. 

“He says ‘what?’” 

“Wait, what? Wait… so Shukaku is in your head or is he like a ghost? Can you see ghosts? Wait… that’s not right… that wouldn’t be dangerous to you necessary unless there was a hidden aspect… so some type of seniant mutation type quirk that goes along with your sand…that would be a very rare type of mutation… kind of like dark shadow, but dark shadow is Tokoyami’s quirk… so it would have to be rare enough for people to be afraid or offended by and also rare enough that no one really knows about it…” Midoriya mumbled, and Yamada turned towards Aizawa.

“You know… if Nedzu finds out about his analisis ability we will all be in danger… they could take over the world…” Aizawa looked at him contemplating before sighing.

“Shukaku is the result of Gaara being born with the tails quirk.” Aizawa mumbled, “And Problem child,” Aizawa’s face turned serious, “we need to talk after school on Monday. You are not in trouble, so don’t worry about it too much.” Despite the reassurance, Midoriya looked petrified.

“Y-yes sensei.” then processed the other part of what Aizawa said, “Tails?! That is all over the quirk forms, but no one could prove that it actually exists because everyone that has it is so secretive, they are like their own community! This-” Aizawa interrupted.

“Yes. He has the tails quirk. If you have any more questions, ask Gaara. I am going to go take a nap.” Midoriya turned his bright face toward Gaara.

“Shukaku looks like a tanuki, except he is really big. And is covered in sand… kind of. He is also really annoying but he is probably just lonely and he is bored. I am not sure what motivates him anymore, but he likes to kill people I think… or maybe just cause chaos. He can take over when I sleep, which is why I don’t sleep. Also, he is the reason our dad tried to kill us a lot, because mom died when we were born.” Gaara explained before Midoriya could ask any questions. 

With being around both Midoriya and Nejire one gets really good at anticipating the long string of questions they ask. 

“Anything else?” Gaara inquired calmly, and Midorya stared at him in shock.

“How bout you guys get food first, then you can continue with the questions?” Yamada suggested and Gaara nodded, going to the fridge before getting cut off by Yamada. 

“Nope. What do you guys want to eat?” Yamada says cheerfully.

“Shinso? You are the one that was hungry, do you have any ideas?” Midoriya asked thoughtfully and Shinso shook his head.

“Well, how about anything you guys don’t want?” Yamada changed his question.

They all shook their heads and Yamada sighed.

Couldn’t one of them be assertive?


	67. Chapter 64 ~ Shukaku Literally Sez Hai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Iwa here… so no double update this week, I had a lot going on… but since everything kind of happened at once, that makes the coming weeks less busy! (hopefully XD) Um. Yeah. My personality has been all over the map so writing this note is realllllyyyy interesting… Shinji is just watching me like delete and re-type so much… XD I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST! Thought I failed that, but I didn’t! We have a discord now… just because… ((we totally have lives! We don’t know what you are talking about!)) We hope you guys continue to enjoy! Just be prepared… there is a reason that we decided to write an angst fic. We realized that this one was getting WAYYYY too dark for what we wanted so… uh yeah… but plans have already been made so… get ready for fluff and comfort… but also with dark undertones! (basically what this has been already…) This note got really long. Uh bye!!! (if you want, come yell at us. We hunger for any type of attention XD https://discord.gg/tYVU3zk Just a warning tho, it’s a mess… like us so yeah XD) OK BYE FOR REAL THIS TIME

Yamada ended up making ramen because he was extra like that and he felt like it.

The three boys sat in awkward silence in the living room waiting for Yamada to finish. 

“So-” Midoriya and Shinso spoke at the same time before Midoryia blushed and started waving his hands.

“You go first-” 

“No, you go.” Shinso insisted.

“Well… I just wanted to kind of talk about what you said yesterday? And your quirk! It has something to do with mind control, right? I am guessing it is triggered by vocal responses and that is why you said those things… but I just wanted to ask if you really meant them.” Midoriya looked down at his hands.

“You mean how I think you grew up privileged? Then yes.” Shinso said awkwardly and Midoryia clenched his fists.

“I mean I know I didn’t have it that bad, I had a mother who supported me and we always had money-” 

“No. I mean your quirk. You never had to deal with people telling you that you would be a villain. You must have been the golden boy of your community, huh? Never having to worry about anything. Always had a friend to do whatever you told them to, because you were going to be a mighty hero.” Shinso snapped, and Aizawa shuffled over to listen, intrigued.

Midoriya looked dejected, “I-” Midoryia sniffed and tears started falling from his eyes.

‘ _ Oh shit, did I go too far? And I am at my only friend’s house! Don’t tell me I ruined it just because I had a sad childhood’ _ Shinso panicked internally, “Look-”

“No. I-I was quirkless until the entrance exam… I-I… I was so happy when G-gaara i-invited me over… I-it’s my first time at an actual friend’s house. B-but I c-can leave i-if you w-want. I’m sorry.” Izuku got up and attempted to stagger out of the room before being snached up in a hug by Temari, who was suddenly standing there with Kankuro.

Shinso sat there in shock, staring at Midoriya with wide eyes.

“You are NOT leaving. You are going to sit here and get cuddles, and we are all going to talk this out.” Temari declared, setting down Midoriya on the couch before she sat herself down right next to him, “Now, apologize for assuming.” Temari pointed at Shinso who paled.

“I-” Shinso looked down at his lap, “I did the same thing that I hate when others do to me. I made assumptions about you based on your quirk. I-” Shinso looked up, “I really hope that maybe we could start over… if you could forgive me… if not I understand. Just because of my experiences I had a predetermined view of you and that was wrong. I am sorry. More so than you could ever imagine. I-if I had it bad with a quirk… I-I know you had it way worse… I… I am so sorry.”

Midoryia escaped Temari’s hold and hesitantly scooted towards Shinso, holding his arms out slowly.

Shinso moved just as slowly and awkwardly accepted Midoriya’s hug.

“I also had bad experiences because of predestined ideas of my quirk.” Gaara spoke up suddenly, interrupting the moment.

The two looked over at him and Gaara blinked.

“Sorry. Shukaku told me to speak too.” 

“No! It’s fine! We have all shared now!” Midoriya rushed out.

“Good. Because the ramen is ready!” Yamada called out from the kitchen.

The kids all went to grab ramen and Aizawa sighed from his spot on the floor.

Great. All three of them have faced quirk discrimination. Now he has to talk to Shinso too.

**_~~~_ **

“C-can we talk more about Shukaku? Or to him? Or is that not a thing that can happen.” Midoriya inquired, the way he does. 

Temari and Kankuro had been doing Yoga in the living room and suddenly the three boys heard loud thuds and muffled gasps of pain.

“Sure.” Gaara agreed immediately, “Just ask one or two questions at a time so Shukaku or I can answer appropriately.” Midoriya enthusiastically nodded and Shinso leaned in curiously. 

Gaara turned his head to the living room, where his siblings had grown suspiciously quiet, “Shukaku says that you should just get in here if you are going to be so obvious about it,” and Kankuro and Temari scurried into the room. 

Gaara turned back to Midoriya as a signal for him to begin, but he had already started to ask.

“Is Shukaku like Dark Shadow? Can he physically manifest?” Midoriya asked.

“N-” Gaara paused, listening, “He says that theoretically that is possible, but not right now. Maybe if he took over?” Gaara shrugged, “We haven’t really been on the best terms.”

“Ok, what is it like for Shukaku? Like where is he?”

“He is in my mind. You follow the sand trail to get to him. He says it is really lonely an-” Gaara paused for a second and glanced over at Aizawa and Yamada, who were also listening in, “He says that he can just talk to you through me, instead of me relaying what he says through me.”

“And what do you think about that, little listener?” Yamada asked, gently, trying not to show his concern.

“I-” Gaara blinked, “I think it should be fine. He likes everyone in this room except for Yamada… and possibly my siblings… I… I trust him with this I think.” Aizawa nodded, while the twins and Yamada looked both weary and indigent.

“Well, I am going to be right here if he does decide to go feral so… do what you want kid, it’s your quirk… partnership… thing.” Aizawa ended awkwardly, not really wanting to deal with the repercussions of upsetting Shukaku. 

“HEY! Are we just going to ignore that Shukaku doesn’t like me? Like uh? Am I gonna die??? I kinda want to know here, people!” Yamada yelled out, concerned, but it was ignored because Gaara suddenly opened his eyes and they were yellow, with a black ‘x’ shape for the I pupils. 

“Don’t worry about it. I can’t kill anybody right now.” The not-gaara said, rolling Gaara’s eyes.

“So you’re Shukaku?” Midoriya asked, eyes blown wide.

“Obviously. Is there anyone else in there Gaara?” Shukuku laughed, “Whoa. This is so much easier when you aren’t fighting me! I feel like I could take down a mountain!” he exclaimed, clenching a fist, “Fine, I won’t. I haven’t had this much control since-” Shukaku stopped suddenly, “Ok, ok, I get it. We don’t talk about that. Taboo.” Shukaku clapped his hands together, “So! Any questions for me?”

“How do you like just take control? Do you ever share? Do you have the same memories that Gaara has? How do you two fight together? Were you of mental maturity when you manifested? What can you do?” Midoriya asked, all in one breath, forgetting what Gaara had asked him.

“Whoa. That was a lot of word vomit.” Shukaku leaned back in his chair, rolling his neck, “Ok. So usually I have to fight Gaara’s will or just show up when he is threatened or sleeping. The situation kind of dictates my free will. If he is threatened, I really don’t have control. If I just fight him, I have more control but less power because I spent energy. Sleeping is kinda like it is currently, or it would be, but this idiot refuses to sleep so I have to supply him with energy. He has some SERIOUS trust issues.” 

“SO THAT’S HOW HE DOES IT!” Yamada suddenly screeched, Shukaku flinching.

Shinso looked at Shukaku and Gaara reverently.

“That’s like… coffee personified… or like the ultimate cheat code… is there any way I could get any of that magic?” Shinso begged.

“First, I am sorry Purple Cat Obsession, I have no idea how to do that for you. Second. This is why we h- don’t like Yamada. His screaming hurts. He is like a human sized siren. You guys do realize that Gaara has extremely sensitive hearing… and that’s without the extra ear. He OW-” Shukaku winced, “Yeash, didn’t think that sharing that was not allowed- I think they should know… it’s getting really annoying when you are snappy because your ears hurt. You knowwwwww… I could just kil- OW! I was just kidding, yeash!!”

“I’m sorry Gaara, Shukaku, we had no idea.” Yamada winced.

“Wait… does this mean you share pain? And I just realized something, this is why you randomly blurt things out, right? You’re just talking to Shukaku!”

“Hold up there Green Bush. I still have to answer your previous questions. No we don’t share because of the trust issues thing. I think we possibly could however… and same to the fight question. Sometimes I do give him energy so he doesn’t die or pass out like a fool. I matured much faster than Gaara, like it took a few weeks but I definitely had a LOT of just sitting around watching his people do weird things. It could be like this for me to figure out everything so I am able to help Gaara as he grows and then grow together… but obviously that didn’t really happen so… I can do whatever really. Now to your new questions. We do not share pain. Unless there is something that can hurt both of us at the same time… Gaara is just annoying when he is in pain or sick, which is a lot. So I like to try and prevent and inevitably shorten both of those things… they are inevitable because energy isn’t really a substitute for real sleep and… stuff… not sure what is taboo there… that makes him naturally weak to nasty stuff. So yeah. Definitely don’t care about him… he just makes my life miserable when he is and also if he dies I die and quite frankly, I am against that so I make sure he heals quickly.” Shukaku said, “Wow. That was a lot of information. I also can confirm that Gaara does randomly blurt out his responses to me.”

“Whoa… that’s a lot to process…” Shinso said, dazed while Midoriya just nodded eagerly, his fingers twitching as if he was desperate to write something. 

Midoriya opened his mouth, as if to ask more questions, then closed it, blushing. 

“Sorry for all of the questions. That’s not why you- your sister- invited me over…” Shukaku shrugged.

“He told you guys you could ask questions, so he is fine with answering them. However, he has been asking me to give him back control so I guess this is goodbye for now.” Shukaku smiled, “Remember, I am allllllwwwaaayyyssss watttchhhinnnggg.” Shukaku blinked and suddenly his eyes were back to Gaara’s normal color. 

“Hi.” Gaara greeted, and Shinso tilted his head to the side with a smile. Mustachio chose that moment to jump up onto the kitchen table and lap at what little remained in their bowls. 

“YOU!” Yamada narrowed his eyes, getting into a battle stance, grabbing a ladle from the drying rack, “YOU FOUL FIEND!!” Mustachio jumped off the table, strutting out of the room, “THIS WAR IS FAR FROM OVER! I MAY NOT HAVE WON ONE BATTLE YET, BUT MARK THESE WORDS!!! I WILL WIN NEXT TIME!!” Yamada accented his words with swinging the ladle in an arching motion and Midoriya turned bewildered to Gaara.

“Is it like this all of the time?” Midoriya asked and Gaara nodded, “What is your cat’s name?”

“There are four of them. Mustachio was the one that just upset Yamada. Apparently they have a rivalry? Swirls is-” Swirls sauntered past the table to her food dish looking up expectantly, Aizawa sighing but getting up nothingless, “Swirls is there. She is nice. Ink doesn’t have any paws and Floof is the kitten upstairs… possibly.” 

“Aw!” Midoriya cooed, “I wish we could have pets, but our apartment doesn’t allow them.”  **_(yes we gave his mom a house in RotP… this is different and possibly less depressing… so more room = more depressing? Idk ok guys…)_ **

**** “I know how you feel, I can’t have pets either.” Shinso empathised.

“So uh what now? I can do whatever you guys want… I haven’t been over someone else’s place since I was like five so uh… sorry.” 

“Same.” Shinso voiced.

“I haven’t at all.” Gaara proclaimed.

The three sat in silence for a second contemplating their shared inexperience before Yamada tried to collect the dishes. Shinso visibly flinched, having not expected the man to come behind him, while Midoriya started to gather up all of the dishes.

Aizawa watched this all from the corner, “Great. Another Problem Child. Just how many am I going to have this year?” Aizawa mumbled, complaining. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

‘ _ By the end of this year, all of my hair will be gray.’ _ Aizawa predicted and sighed mournfully, deciding to go back to bed and leave this disaster in Hizashi’s hands. 


	68. Chapter 65 ~ Awkwardness; With a Capital ‘A’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is us! Here again with another update that confuses people into wondering if it is angst or fluff! XD I have been staring at this for a while and I have nothing else to say. Masururururururururuurururuururururu uhh well, if you want to yell at us on discord https://discord.gg/MvE6BWr Bye! Enjoy!

Midoriya fought tooth and nail to be able to help with the dishes.    
  


Eventually, Yamada reluctantly agreed, not being able to say no when the boy stared at him so purely and determinedly. 

“You’re a guest, you really shouldn’t be doing the dishes, you know.” Yamada complained from where he had been forced unto drying duty.

“That’s exactly why I should help! Besides, I do all of the dishes at home, so it is just weird for me not to.” Midoriya explained, handing Yamada a long steak knife.

“Your parents don’t help you?” Yamada inquired, and Midoriya paused.

“My dad has been out of the picture for a long while, and my mom works really hard. I just like to help out where I can.” Midoriya explained, and Gaara narrowed his eyes. Something in Midoriya’s tone sounded off to him.

Not wanting to be rude, both Shinso and him were sitting on the kitchen floor waiting for the two to finish. 

“That’s so thoughtful of you!” Yamada smiled, and Midoriya gave a tight smile back, causing Gaara to narrow his eyes further.

“ _ I also think something is off about Midoriya… maybe he is secretly a serial killer? He has the brains for it, that’s for sure.”  _ Shukaku suggested.

Gaara rolled his eyes. Sure, Midoriya could be the greatest serial killer ever, however his aura says otherwise. He decided to humor Shukaku.

“Midoriya?” Gaara asked.

“Hmm?” 

“Shukaku wants to know if you are secretly a serial killer.” Midoriya dropped the knife he was currently washing back into the dish water and started stuttering, unable to answer.

“ _ PROOF! HE’S BEEN CAUGHT AND HAS NO ALIBI!!” _ Shukaku shouted and Gaara laughed, Yamada’s eyes almost bugging out of his head at the sound.

“Unless you know how to camouflage your aura, I do not believe you are a serial killer. However, you seem extremely intelligent so I cannot immediately eliminate the idea.” Gaara informed him.

“I-I’m n-not really s-smart… a-and I-I am definitely not a serial killer!” Midoriya exclaimed. 

Yamada ruffled Midoriya’s hair. 

“Don’t worry little listener, I don’t think you are a criminal!” Yamada reassured him. Midoriya visibly relaxed and they quickly finished up the dishes.

“What do we do now?” Gaara inquired. Yamada clapped his hands together.

“You guys totally need to play like a board game or something! That’s like the staple of hanging out!” 

“It is?” Gaara cocked his head to the side and Midoryia pursed his lips.

“I mean, I would totally be ok with doing that, Shinso? Is that ok with you?”

“Sure. But I don’t know how to play anything like that.” Shinso shrugged and Gaara nodded in agreement.

“I don’t really either…” Midoriya admitted, and Yamada perked up.

“Well we have lots of games, both card and board, and all of them have directions! So you all can learn the games together!” 

“Sure.” Shinso agreed and followed an excited Yamada to a room with cabinets and all sorts of shelves. 

As Midoriya and Gaara walked in, they could see the beanbags in a circle surrounding a short table. 

“The games are all in the cabinets, let me know if you guys need anything!” Yamada said for the third time that day.

The boys all nodded and gathered around the cabinet closest to the door.

“So… uh… what now?” Shinso asked lamley. 

“I guess we just pick one?” Midoriya answered.

Gaara opened the cabinet and grabbed the first thing he could get his sand on, all while moving to go sit in the blue bean bag.

Midoriya and Shinso looked at each other and shrugged, before following suit and plopping down themselves. 

“I have grabbed,” Gaara paused to examine the box of cards in front of him, frowning, “You-no.” Midoriya giggled and Shinso snorted.

“What?” Gaara asked, clueless.

“I think it’s pronounced Uno.” Midoriya corrected kindly, “I only know because I have heard about it before, so don’t feel bad!” He hurriedly added, not wanting to offended his  first  new friend. 

“We are going to play… Uno…” Gaara grabbed the cards and opened them up, looking at them in confusion, “They are just cards with numbers and colors, how is that supposed to be a game?” 

“Yamada-sensei said that there were directions somewhere?” Midoriya suggested, and Gaara handed the cards and box to Midoriya. 

After a few seconds of shifting through the deck, Midoriya held up one triumphantly, “Look! A rule card!” Shinso clapped dramatically and Midoriya gave a bright smile, “Ok. So it looks like we each need seven cards to start…” Midoriya continued to read the rules. 

It was really slow at the start, with all of them making fumbling mistakes, but Gaara won the first round with the help of Shukaku, which the others complained was unfair. 

They were now somewhere in the middle of their second round and this game was going much better, they were going to add in the special rules next round.

Gaara currently had three blue cards and one plus two that was yellow. He frowned as he looked at the red card that was currently on top of the pile. 

He sighed as he reached for the draw pile and huffed with happiness when he pulled it up to reveal a red 1.

“Really. You couldn’t have changed the color or something?” Shinso complained. Gaara looked at him with a small grin and the door to the room opened.

All three of the boys looked up at the same time to see Kankuro and Temari in the doorway. 

“Heyyy… we were just wondering if uhhhhh…. We could join you?” Kankuro gave the three an awkward smile and Temari quickly added on to his request.

“Not that we have to, we know you guys are hanging out so we totally understand if you don’t want us to.” 

The three looked at each other and Gaara looked up and nodded, moving closer to Midoriya to make room for the two. 

Shinso also moved closer to Midoriya and Kankuro and Temari came to join them.

“We have to finish this game first though.” Gaara informed them, and Shinso looked over at them hopefully.

“Or we could just scratch this game and restart?” Shinso suggested.

“You are just trying to get out of drawing cards!” Midoriya accused but then backtracked, “U-unless you were just being nice!” and Shinso sighed at the boy’s people pleasing nature. 

“No,” Shinso sighed, “You were right, I was trying to get out of this awful hand I have.”

“We shall wait for the next round then!” Temari announced gleefully, glancing over at Shinso’s hand, “That is a horrible hand. Although can’t you get rid of it by playing a seven or a zero?” Shinso sighed deeper and sunk further into the chair defeated.

“We aren't playing with those rules, we thought it would be easier to learn without them…I have many regrets.” Shinso lamented. 

Temari laughed and folded her hands while Kankuro moved to see Shinso’s hand.

“Oh wow… I thought you were exaggerating…” Kankuro commented as Shinso drew cards, not getting one he could play until his fifth draw, which was surprising with the number of cards he had. His hand was just that bad.

Shinso sighed in defeat as Midoriya played with ease and then as Gaara said nonchalantly, “Uno.” as he played a card.

No one ended up playing anything that stopped Gaara, and the boy won the second round as well.

The twins were dealt in and they explained the extra rules with zeros and sevens. With that, the third round was underway. 

Gaara won that one as well. As well as the next. In fact, the only round that he did not win was the last one, which Kankuro won.

Shinso however, lost each round by a huge margin. 

When Gaara’s reign of terror was over he threw down his cards.

“Ok. How about we play something else?” Shinso suggested, desperately.

Kankuro suggested go-fish, however Shinso threatened to throw it out the window.

“No more card games today.” Shinso ordered. 

Kankuro raised his hands defensively and they all moved to the next cabinet to see if there were board games in there. 

“Oh wow, I can’t believe they have one of these!” Midoriya exclaimed. 

“What is it?” Shinso asked curiously.

“It is an old version of The Game of Life! One that was made before quirks and the hero profession existed! There are not very many of these around anymore!”

“The Game of Life… seems like a horrible theme for a game… life is definitely not good enough to be game worthy.” Shinso commented.

“I haven’t played before, but it looks fun!” Temari smiled.

“I have always wanted to play!” Midoriya agreed.

“I am ok with playing.” Gaara informed the group.

“Fine.” Shinso relented, going back to the table and plopping down.

“I’m down to play whatever.” Kankuro said and with that they all went to join Shinso at the table.

The game was quite complicated but they started after reading them once, figuring that they would reference the directions as they went.

“Well, Gaara, you are first.” Temari informed him and Gaara spun the wheel in the center.

Gaara got a five and moved, going down the education path, as the directions said he could get more money that way. 

They all went after Gaara, and the only people to get jobs this round were Kankuro and Shinso.

Shinso went down the career path and got a popstar, which he absolutely resented and Kankuro went down the education path to come out with one of the highest paying jobs, a veterinarian. 

The next round left everyone with jobs and everyone on the way to the future. 

Gaara was a lawyer, Temari was a hairstylist, and Midoriya was a police officer. 

Gaara spun again and landed on a space that said ‘STOP’ next to it. Temari glanced down at the rulebook.

“Looks like you need to get married in this game. ‘Take another peg for your piece and put them in the car next to you to get your spouse.” Temari read. 

Gaara stared at the box of pink and blue for over a minute before placing a blue peg into his car next to his own blue peg. 

“Did our baby bro just come out to us?” Kankuro whispered at Temari, who had tears of joy in her eyes, “Gaara? Are you gay?” 

The boy shrugged, “Why do you ask right now?”

“Well you just put a blue little person in your car- not that it has to mean anything, you just kind of made a big show out of it…. And we had that whole discussion the other day…….” Temari trailed off, becoming less and less confident with what Kankuro and her had assumed.

Midoriya and Shinso were just looking at them all confused.

“Don’t think I care about what someone is. I picked the blue because Shukaku identifies as male and I am stuck with him, however much I hate it… or don’t… Fluffy said we were in couple’s therapy or something. Isn’t that for married people?” 

Kankuro choked on nothing and hunched over trying to catch his breath.

They all stared at Gaara for a bit before Temari squealed, “Our brother did come out to us! Now we are just three pans in a pod! Like peas!”

“Are we just going to ignore that Gaara thinks he is married to the quirk inside his head?” Kankuro asked uselessly.

“Shukaku definitely denies that we are married. He just threatened to claw his way out of my brain and move to Egypt.” Gaara informed him. 

“Well Gaara… people usually get married when they love each other very much… and frankly… I don’t think that is your problem… or you guys are like those old married couples that can’t stop arguing… then I guess-” Shinso theorized before Temari cut him off.

“You know what? Let’s just play the game. Ok? Ok. No thinking about if my little brother is married. Thank you. He is definitely not.” Shinso nodded at Temari’s expression and spun the spinner.

He also landed on the marriage space. He also grabbed a blue peg, with way less consideration than Gaara.

“Um. Ok. So like this is a weird random place to just say this out loud for the first time… but since you guys started it… I am gay and I definatly have no quirk in my head that I am representing by the peg.” Shinso immediately tensed after he finished but there was no reason to as he soon learned. 

“I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH US!!!” Temari sobbed, “Our brother has friends and they are comfortable with being around all of us!!!” Shinso just nodded awkwardly, sensing there was a backstory behind that, but he didn’t feel like getting murdered with anymore emotions. 

He was so caught up with the revelation and emotional outburst that it would be after he got home that he would realize that she called Gaara, Midoriya, and him friends, leading to an internal crisis.

Kankuro then went, adding no spouse to his vehicle. 

“They are there in spirit… hopefully… whoever they are…” Kankuro said by explanation, crossing his hand over his chest, “Whether in rain or snow, dead or alive, summer or winter, on this day Themiscus and I are now, and forever shall be, married. Our lives will be always k-” 

“OK!” Temari clapped her hands together, “It’s your turn Midoriya!”

Midoriya also added a blue peg, blushing as he did so, Temari sending him a thumbs up and Kankuro too far in his own head to realize they were still playing a game.

Temari, like Kankuro, didn’t add a peg.

**_(I have all the regrets, yet none. The game of Life made me uncomfy as a child and triggers me now. I won’t rant XD… especially because it is just a game. But yeah. GUYS I JUST LOOKED IT UP!!! THERE IS A GAME OF LIFE 2 COMING OUT! IT HAS A NON-BINARY PEG! PEOPLE THINK THE GAME OF LIFE HAS A GAY AGENDA XDDDD WAIT IT IS OUT! YOU CAN GET PETS! YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET MARRIED! OK I HAVE DECIDED THAT MY PREJUDICE FOR THE GAME IS OVER, AND PROBABLY DIDN’T EXIST IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE IT WAS PROBABLY JUST MY FAMILY! HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA true that Shinji… it’s fine… I can play the game of life however I want now XP Ha. ok sorry bout that guys… I’m leaving my revelation here. Enjoy my random weirdness. This shall teach me not to judge games by my experiences as a child... let this be a lesson )_ **

**** They played the rest of the game with Midoriya winning, but Gaara being a millionaire, Kankuro failed miserably, he seemed lost in his own world the entire game, Temari landed in a lot of debt when she had to pay for the plane that crashed into her house, and Shinso made the most reckless decisions ever, trying to lose, but somehow coming in second place, much to his disdain. 

“Well. That was a train wreck.” Shinso casually remarked.

Everyone agreed except Kankuro, who had rushed off with a quick ‘bye!’ when the game ended.

“I’ll leave you guys to do whatever you are going to do, and I’ll see you guys on Saturday, right?”

Midoriya looked confused, “Saturday?” 

“Yeah! We are having an adoption party! Cause we should be getting officially adopted on Friday. Did Gaara not tell you guys?” Temari asked.

Gaara sighed. 

“We are getting adopted on Friday. There is a party Saturday because our new not-Aunt aunt decided that a party was happening. You guys can come if you feel like it.” Gaara informed them. 

“A-are you sure it would be ok for me to come?” Midoriya asked hesitantly, “I don’t want to intrude.” 

“Nonsense! I never would have asked if I would see you and Gaara wouldn’t have invited you if we or he didn’t want you there!” Temari smiled.

“O-ok then, I would love to come! Uh what time would this be? Is it here?”

“Uh… that’s a great question.” Temari said.

“I will just text you as soon as someone tells me.” Gaara informed him, and Shinso looked over.

“I… I think I could get away. I may be late though.” Shinso said slowly.

Gaara looked at him suspiciously, but nodded anyways, “Do you have to leave now?” 

Shinso looked at the time on his phone, “Uh… actually yes. I am really sorry for just leaving like this.”

Gaara shrugged, “There really isn’t anything to be sorry about.” 

Shinso, Gaara, and Midoriya all walked out of the room and towards the kitchen where Yamada was baking something. 

“What’s up little listeners?” Yamada asked when he noticed the three.

“Shinso needs to go to the house he lives at.” Gaara informed him, and Yamada looked a little confused at the wording before shaking his head and nodding.

“Do you need a lift?” 

“No.” Shinso said hurriedly, also sending a weird look at Gaara, “I’ll take the train.” 

“If you say so… How about you Midoriya? Are you leaving as well?”

Midoriya nodded regretfully, “Thank you so much, Gaara. I had so much fun! I will see you in school tomorrow?” Gaara nodded and they all said goodbye. 

Ten minutes after they left Yamada was buzzing around worriedly glancing at Gaara every ten seconds.

Gaara let out a sigh and got out his phone.

**Midoriya and Projectile**

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [5:00 pm]: I think Yamada wants to know if you guys got home.

Projectile [5:02 pm]: I’m alive. But u probably won’t hear from me until like midnight. Byeeeeeee

Midoriya [5:02 pm]: I’m not home yet, but tell him not to worry! (I am assuming that Cat Overload is Gaara and Projectile is Shinso… those sound like they have a story behind them…) 

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [5:03 pm]: Shinso did it.

Midoriya [5:03 pm]: So no stories?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [5:04 pm]: Ask Shinso.

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [5:05 pm]: Have to go. Something is leaking… or on fire. Not sure at this point. Bye.

Midoriya [5:05 pm]: WHAT? 

Midoriya [5:05 pm]: GAARA?

Midoriya [5:06 pm]: are you ok?

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [9:28 pm]: Kankuro’s child died and we had to attened a funeral. Everything is fine now.

Midoriya [9:30 pm]: uhhhhhhhhhhh


	69. Chapter 66 ~  Long Awaited, Blast from the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter because we have had an eventful week of mental breakdowns. But it is ok! Somehow we made it out alive! We promise an extra long chapter for next time UwU. Personally I love this chapter XD This chapter includes a scene that we wrote over thirty five chapters ago. We misplaced the timeline so we have been eager to share it with you! Enjoy! (and yet another thank you for all of your comments, we love them so much.)

Midoryia was relieved to see Gaara in the classroom the next morning. 

Despite questioning Gaara, he got nothing more out of him, and neither did Shinso when he joined Midoriya at midnight. 

Midoriya was determined to get answers today, as long as Gaara was comfortable with sharing of course. 

Now that he stood in the classroom, he figured it was better to wait for lunch. 

Aizawa popped up from the ground right as class began. Gaara focused in on the man, thinking they were going to be doing something important. 

“You are going to be choosing hero names today.” And just like that Gaara wasn’t paying attention anymore. He said a few more things about his own hero name and then introduced Midnight, or his aunt?, who was way too enthusiastic and was still speaking with too many exclamation points. 

She passed out whiteboards and markers to everyone and the class all began to write on them. Gaara just stared at the board. Judging by the fact that his classmates were in the hero course, they had all put in at least some thought to what their hero name should be, but Gaara had been placed in the hero course and had never thought about these things before. His classmates go up one by one till Todoroki's hero name catches his eye. Shoto. His first name, just like what Gaara goes by. He continued to think before expertly writing out something. He stood up and made his way to the front of the class. Gaara turned his whiteboard around slowly so his classmates could read what was written there. 

'Gaara of the Sand' 

"You're going by your first name too?" Midnight questioned. Gaara gave a small nod. Midnight was going to continue when Gaara opened his mouth to speak surprising everyone. 

“I would not go by my last name. My father did attempt to kill me many times, after all.” Gaara shrugged.

You could have heard a pin drop in that moment.

Aizawa slunk further into his sleeping bag.

“Uh, you ok man?” Kaminari asked bluntly.

“Yes. He was murdered so everything is fine now.” Gaara nodded then added, “Thank you for asking.” 

The class was dead silent as Gaara started walking back to his seat.

“Wait… what?” Mineta asked, staring in shock at the sand boy.

“Now class! Uh. We probably should move on?” Midnight tried, desperately glancing at Aizawa.

“Uh, I think maybe we should talk about this?” Kaminari stated, and Midoriya was muttering to himself.

“age...Kazekage… KAZEKAGE!” Midoriya suddenly shouted, “As in Gold Rush! The former number 3 hero that suddenly retired at the start of the school year! HOLY SHIT!” Everyone stared at the green bush in surprise, both at his revelation and the fact that he swore. 

As the situation got more out of control, Nemuri picked the sleeping bag up and put it on the podium. 

Aizawa grumbled as he got out of his sleeping bag and immediately activated his quirk. 

“None of this information leaves this classroom, only then will I, or Gaara, answer your questions.”

The class immediately quieted down.

“Now, Midoriya.” Midoriya flinched as Aizawa called him out, “How did you know the civilian name of Gold Rush? He was extremely careful about keeping his life secret.” 

“W-well… I uh…” Midoriya scrambled.

“The stupid nerd keeps stalker notebooks and keeps track of heroes religiously.” Bakugo scoffed and Midoriya flinched.

“Alright.” Aizawa sighed, “Gaara has literally no filter so I guess this was going to happen eventually. Therefore, he can only answer questions I approve of, otherwise we could all be in trouble here, and I am too tired for that. I would give a basic run down, but I am too lazy so… first question.”

“Did Gaara kill his father?” Mina asked quickly and Aizawa nodded to Gaara.

“No- he-”

“Just the no would suffice.” Aizawa interrupted. 

“Who killed him then?” Kaminari asked. Gaara was about to open his mouth to speak before Aizawa glared at him.

Gaara shrugged.

“Did your father train you in a way that was almost like beatings?” Todoroki inquired, brows furrowed in contemplation. Aizawa narrowed his eyes in concern before nodding to Gaara.

“No… quite the opposite. He had sent people to kill me every so often but other than that, I wasn’t allowed to interact with anyone, so… unless you define hitmen as a training technique, no. He did finally try and kill me himself, but that did not end well for him.” Gaara stated and Todoroki looked further confused.

“Are you sure you didn’t kill your father- not that he didn’t deserve it, of course…” Mina questioned, still suspicious. 

“I can confirm that Gaara was in no way responsible for his sperm donner’s death. Next question.” Aizawa sighed.

“So… do you, like, live with your mom now then?” Hagakure asked and Aizawa sent a pleading glance at Gaara that he prayed the boy understood.

“No. My mother is dead, I killed her. I live with two people that are becoming my new dads, I guess.” Gaara sent a proud look at Aizawa, he felt proud that he interpreted the man’s facial expression without the help of Shukaku. His expression turned thoughtful, “I don’t know where my siblings’ mother is… I don’t think SHE is dead.”

Mina sputtered as everyone stared in shock at the boy.

“Now, now, everyone! There must be a valid reason, otherwise Gaara wouldn’t be in class with us!” Iida tried to calm the class, while Aizawa started contemplating just leaving. 

“No. I was just put here because people are afraid of me, although I do want to be a hero now.” Gaara’s expression turned softer, “People shouldn’t have to suffer.” 

“Hold up… let me get this straight…  **(I’m not… sorry XD I had too)** you didn’t kill your father… but you killed your mother… for no reason?” Uraraka asked and Gaara blinked.

“Well it is hard for a baby to have a reason, although Sh-” Aizawa’s scarf was suddenly around Gaara’s mouth. 

**(Shukaku’s mood rn: XDDDDDDDDDDDD)**

“Gaara’s mother died during childbirth, it was in no way his fault.”

A cloud of relief settled over the class at that statement.

“Wait. You said you were placed here?” Kaminari cocked his head and Gaara nodded.

“The people in charge, including the principal thought it would be best if Gaara was enrolled in UA.” Aizawa explained, narrowing his eyes as if daring anyone to question him.

“How is that fair?!” Mineta exclaimed, “We all had to work for our spots while he just had to have a powerful father who he murdered?!” Aizawa’s quirk activated again.

“First.” Aizawa growled, “Would YOU like to fight Gaara?” Mineta shook his head, “Second. Gaara didn’t get the opportunities that you all had but he is still coming close to being the top in academics. Third. Gaara did NOT kill anyone. Stain killed that fake. NEVER insult MY-” Aizawa stopped suddenly, realizing he was about to say son, “students,” he continued awkwardly, “ever again.”

Mineta was shaking in his seat and everyone stared shell shocked.

“Now. While the rest of you are figuring out your hero names I will pass out the internship information.” 

The class continued to present hero names, most everyone going back to their cheerful and energetic selves  **(we know this is out of order but we said throw cannon out the window so… yeah.)** while Aizawa handed out the internship information.

“Uh, Mr. Aizawa?” Mineta spoke up, “I didn’t get a packet.” Aizawa didn’t stop walking back up to the front of the classroom.

“I know.”

“So, give me one then.” Mineta demanded and Aizawa sighed.

“You see, I was going to do this after school to be more respectful to you even when you show none to your fellow students, especially the ones that identify as female, but I cannot stand your presence any longer. Mineta Minoru, you are expelled from UA for sexual harassment and the fact you are not cut out for hero work.”

“WHAT YOU CAN’T DO THAT!!” Mineta yelled and Jiro stood up.

“Actually he can, he can expel any of us at any time, as long as the principal has no objections.” Jiro said smugly.

“And that is where I am inviting you to go, to principal Nezu’s office. He has footage; I am sure you would like the chance to explain to him.” Mineta stared at Aizawa, frozen, “Oh and if you have anymore doubt over my right to expel you, why don’t you go ask the current members of Class 3-A, or go and try to find the members of Class 2-A. I am sure they will resolve your doubts. Now get out of my classroom.” Nemuri whistled as the boy left, shaking in fear or anger.

“Damn, Shota.”

“ _ I swear the entertainment factor of your life increases by the day, this is comedy gold.”  _ Shukaku stated with glee and Gaara snorted. 

“Now. This is a classroom for learning. It is important that you all feel safe and respected here. If you do not, you tell me and I will rectify the situation. Just because you are training to be heroes does not mean you are alone. You guys are just kids that need a safe and correct environment for you to learn and grow. Being different or needing help or counseling doesn’t make you less of a hero.” Aizawa growled, “Now. If you don’t have any questions, I am going to explain the internships.”

“He really does care about us!” Mina whispered to Kaminari.

“Yup! Wow, he really is getting soft in his old age… or maybe it is a parent thing… usually he just thinks that and doesn’t tell anyone.” Nemuri agreed as Shota stared daggers at her.

“Aww you think of us as your kids?” Hagakure cooed and Aizawa turned away.

“Definitely not.” he denied, “Now.” He moved on, turning on a screen.

“Internships. You can see from this list that some of you received offers from pros. This usually only happens for second or third years, but seeing as your class seemed ‘interesting’ to the pros, some of them have shown an interest in you. Now. If you didn’t get any specific offers, pick from the list in front of you. You all can pick whomever you like, just keep what you want to improve upon in mind and how each pro can help you.” 

“Think about it carefully, and let me know by next Monday. That gives you a week.” Aizawa commanded, “The rest of your time is independent. I need a nap.” With that, the teacher dropped on to the floor behind his desk and promptly fell asleep.


	70. Chapter 67 ~ Marriage and Children are Not to Be Sprung Upon Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! We be back! If you had no idea we were going to miss a week and were like.. “Uhhhhhh” *stares in suspicion at the date*... we posted on our Wattpad and also in our Discord (https://discord.gg/MvE6BWr). Sorry if we couldn’t communicate it with someone, we didn’t want to post like a ‘chapter’ that just said “hey! No chapter,” cause that is kinda misleading XD It wasn’t planned either. I, Iwa, had a familial issue that caused me to be out of my house. So, that was fun… annnnywayyysss We really hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always reach out with any questions or comments you have, we love to read them! We are really glad to be back!

Kankuro was on a mission. 

After The Incident ™ last night he realized that he would need help for this and a real lab.

That meant contacting a support student, and Kankuro knew just the one. 

It was currently lunch time, and his friends had gone off to ambush his poor baby brother with blankets. 

He would have loved to go with them but he could not rest until he saw his mission to completion.

Kankuro dramatically flung open the door to the support course room with one arm.

The chatter that was going on stopped, however the sounds of working did not as the less obsessed noticed Kankuro’s moment. 

Bright laughter started and quieter chuckles followed.

Kankuro sat up scowling as he looked up to see Greg with a hand extended to help him up.

“That was a heroic take down of the floor.” Greg commented and Kankuro rolled his eyes, taking Greg’s hand.

“Well, I came here to take you up on your offer, but if you are going to be like that I will just ask Benny.” Kankuro said, snarkily.

“No way. I want no part in your guys’ drama.” Benny lamented from behind Greg. 

“It’s not drama, it’s business.” Kankuro scoffed, turning his head aside.  **_(I feel like Shakespear… AND I SAID DRAMA)_ **

“Ok, so what do you need?” Greg asked, shuffling back to his work station that was in a state of disarray. 

Parts lay everywhere and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason behind the placement. 

Benny’s station was right next to Greg’s however, his station was the polar opposite.

There were shelves and drawers, each labeled clearly and with purpose. There was not much on the station itself, just the projects it looked like Benny was currently working on. 

“Well, I got married over the weeked.” Kankuro started, Greg’s eyes shifting from shock to disbelief and then to a mix of the two, “And now-”

“Wait, wait, wait. Just hold up a second. You.” Greg emphasized, “Got married?” Benny shook his head and returned to work, giving up on his brother and Kankuro.

“Well yeah, now we got to just build them.” Kankuro explained, confused. 

“WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? ‘WE’? I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE PART IN A WEIRD BUILD-A-SPOUSE THING!”

“But…” Kankuro sniffed, dejected, “I thought we got over our past and you were going to help me build the best puppet ever. I thought everything was going to be ok.” Greg glanced at Kankuro to see that his eyes had teared up.

“Yeah. I will build a puppet, but I am not going to take part in your weird ritualistic spirit mariage you need to build a vessel for.” Greg said, conflicted, Kankuro’s confusion only grew.

“Huh? Ritual? No! I don’t know what you are talking about!” Kankuro defended.

“What else would you be building a vessel for?!”

“THEY ARE NOT A VESSEL! Look- I don’t know where you got that idea from, but I just wanted to ask your help in making this puppet. They are going to be much more complicated than any I have built on my own before… as proven by the SMALL fire that I set off, killing my child.” Kankuro hung his head in sorrow.

“Hold up. First you were married, then you had a child? And now you murdered that child?!” Greg shouted confused.

“No! I had the child before I got married, and I didn’t murder her, it was an accident!” Kankuro explained.

“HOW DOES THAT MAKE IT ANY BETTER?!!” Greg yelled back in retaliation.

“WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP!” Power loader-sensei screamed from the front of the room, where he was trying to help one of the freshmen, or rather make sure they didn’t explode them all.

“Sorry sensei!” Benny exclaimed, “I’ll make them sort it out quietly.” Benny turned to look at the pair.

“Greg. Please think about this realistically. I think you are missing some context.” 

“Yeah! This isn’t even her first death, so it’s not like I am horrible, right… she will come back… right?” Kankuro looked heart broken and Benny glared pointedly at Greg, who sighed and awkwardly moved to pat Kankuro on the back.

“How about you explain from the beginning?” Benny suggested and Kankuro began a very long and elaborate tale of his precious succulent and all of their trials as a family. 

“-and her most recent death was all because of a round of The Game of Life. I got married and named them Themiscus. Then I got to thinking and came up with a really good idea for a puppet, and I would name them Themiscus in my spouses honor. As I started working, I had a little...uh… accident, and started a fire that happened to spread to Spikeasaurus because she was in my room for the night.” Kankuro lamented, mournfully. 

Greg felt increasingly stupid as Kankuro told his tale, and fought the urge to facepalm. 

“Ok. That makes more sense. Although I don’t know how your cactus survived all of that… but I definitely can help with the puppet problem.” Greg granted. 

“Thank you! I am sure they will turn out great with both of us on the job!” Kankuro beamed and Greg turned away, fighting a blush.

“Yeah, whatever.” 

Benny grinned to himself as they started drawing up blueprints.

~~~

Gaara was ambushed during lunch.

He had been about to leave the classroom and go meet with Shinso, when he saw his sister and her group of friends determinedly headed for him.

“ _ Nope.” _ Gaara thought, and immediately went back into the classroom, pushing past his classmates and opening the window.

His classmates let out various noises of confusion and shock as Gaara hopped out of the window, narrowly escaping attempts to grab him. 

What he wasn’t expecting was the group of friends to follow him out of the window.

“ _ Now what?”  _ Shukaku asked, laughing.

“Shut up.” Gaara mumbled.

Gaara let out a defeated sigh and sat on the ground. 

Even if he were to get away, he would just be cornered later, the group didn’t look like they were going to give up. 

The weirdest part about the whole thing was that Tamaki had followed the three extroverts out of the window. He would have thought the boy would have stayed inside where he would receive less attention.

“ _ Did you think about his reaction if he was left alone in a room filled with teenagers asking him questions about the crazy people that just jumped out a window?” _ Shukaku raised his figurative eyebrows.

“Just shut up.” Gaara sighed. 

Mirio was in the front of the group headed toward him and seemed to be carrying a large brightly decorated bag. In fact, they all had large bags, Temari having two.   
  


“Gaara! That was a smart idea, getting away from your classmates, although it was quite a pane to jump down!” Mirio laughed while Temari just sighed.

“Anyways,” Nejire said, rolling her eyes, “We have the blankets that Temari and Kankuro owed you, as well as our gifts!” She pushed her neon yellow bag toward him, “Open mine first!” 

Gaara took the bag with apprehension written plain on his face. 

“Come on, open it!” Gaara sighed and carefully pulled out the weird papery stuff like it was going to instantaneously combust on him.

Eventually he reached something soft in the bag and pulled it out with no care at all.

Gaara freed the soft thing to reveal a black blanket with white cats on it, that was larger than him when he fully unfolded it. 

“Aww!!” Nejire squealed, rushing forward to pull him into a hug which Gaara expertly dodged, “Accept the hug!”

“Yeah, it took us until this year to successfully get a hug from Gaara that he didn’t fight, good luck with that.” Temari saluted. 

“Tamaki, do you want to go next?” Mirio asked his boyfriend, and the boy in question shook his head, “Ok, guess it is my turn then if Temari doesn’t object!”

“Nope!” Temari said cheerfully, “Go right on ahead.” Gaara, feeling more comfortable after the first gift, moved to take the bag that Mirio offered. 

Gaara pulled out a present mic themed wearable blanket. Complete with a hood that was modeled after the hero’s hair in his costume.

“I figured it would be cool to have some merch of your dad! Or whatever you are going to call him, not that it has to change, just use what you are comfortable with!” Mirio rushed out. 

“Thank you.” Gaara nodded at him, but then turned quizzically to Temari, “Does this mean I need merch of father?”

Temari started to shake her head, but then froze, “I think we totally need some… to burn.” she nodded as if agreeing with herself. 

“Let’s make a party of it!” Nejire cheered, “We can have a bonfire! I heard those are really cool!”

“Sounds like a plan!” Mirio smiled and Gaara shrugged dismissively.

“What about Aizawa? Do we need-” Temari interrupted by shoving a bag that was obviously made by Kankuro into Gaara’s hands.

The bag had ‘for the best baby bro’ embroidered on it.

Gaara sighed as he opened the bag, hesitant to see what was inside.

It was a wool blanket with embroidery on it somehow. 

“Kankuro made it for you! Not sure how he found the time to finish and add the embroidery this quickly, but he has been working on the blanket itself ever since we went to the mall.” 

The blanket was beautiful. It was a mix of all of the things that tied their new life together. 

All of the cats were big parts on the blanket, with Floof being in the center. There was a coffee mug, a microphone, a fan, a puppet, a black mask to represent Midnight, two hands clasped together, a cactus, and a silhouette of a family. 

Gaara blinked and slung the blanket so it was around his shoulders.

“He got really nervous this morning, before begging me to give it to you and rushing off. I think he was afraid you wouldn’t like it.” Temari laughed gently. 

Gaara nodded in understanding and set the bag down but kept the blanket around his shoulders. The other two he received were sitting nicely in their respective bags as well. 

Tamaki slowly inched forward with his hands outstretched and head turned away.

“Thanks… for the other day.” Tamaki blushed as Gaara took the gift. Ok what should he have gotten him.

His hand connected with something velvety soft in the bag, and he pulled out a spherical fox plush. The plush was extremely squishy and soft to the touch.

Gaara’s eyes lit up.

“ _ No, you are not keeping that.” _ Gaara scowled and hugged the plush closer to his chest, “ _ No, you give that back right now. I refuse to let you have that thing.” _

“No.” Gaara said, finality in his voice, and now it was Shukaku’s turn to scowl. 

“Do you not like it?” Tamaki asked dejectedly causing Mirio to pull him into a hug. Tamaki instantly blushed and Gaara had to feel sorry for him. It seemed like Mirio was getting more touchy ever since the whole party incident.

“No,” Gaara started, and Tamaki sunk further, “I love it, Shukaku is just being annoying. He hates foxes for some odd reason.” Gaara cocked his head thoughtfully, “I think it started because of the fox plush that my mother left to me before I was born.”

“Aww, maybe he was just jealous of baby-you loving the plush more than him.” Nejire cooed.

“I-I’m glad you like it.” Tamaki stammered. 

Gaara nodded and kept a hold of the fox while he grabbed the last bag from his sister. 

“I… I know that I haven’t always been there as your sister the way I should have been… but I really am trying to make it up to you now. I also know that I haven’t… been too kind to Shukaku… I think I just blamed him for my own weakness and father’s rules. I blamed him for ruining our relationship when it was really my fault. So I apologize.” 

“ _ Bout time.” _ Shukaku snorted and Gaara scowled, wishing, not for the first time, he could hit the Tanuki. 

“Despite what Shukaku says, you have nothing to apologize for.” Gaara said softly, and Temari rushed forward to hug him. 

“Go on and open your gift now!” Temari announced, wiping tears from her eyes and Gaara nodded, “I know the gift isn’t really exciting but you like blankets so… yeah.”

Gaara pulled out a thick, fluffy white blanket and nodded to Temari.

“Great. Now you need to eat.” Temari commanded, “Let’s walk back into the bu-” Temari was cut off when Gaara ascended back up to the window and into his classroom. 

He then put his lunch box through the window, so Temari could see he had food , then promptly disappeared again. 

“Well… I guess we are on our own.” Nejire commented. 

Temari sighed and the group started walking to the entrance of the school.

**_~~~_ **

In the classroom, Gaara was alone with a frowning Aizawa.

“You have to stop jumping out of windows, I don’t have the energy to control your classmates’ freakouts when you do something like that.” Aizawa sighed and Gaara shrugged, “Why do you have so many… soft things?”

“Temari owed me a blanket and her friends decided to as well.” Gaara explained, “So I have soft things.” Gaara nodded contently and went to sit at his desk. He opened his lunch box to eat, because even though he was not hungry, not eating may summon his sister, and he definitely would rather eat than deal with her annoying wrath. 

Aizawa just sighed again and went back behind his desk to hopefully take a nap before all of his problem children came back. 

**_~~~_ **

Shinso cornered Midoriya in the lunchroom.

“Where is Gaara?” Shinso asked, “He needs to explain what happened last night.” Midoriya instantly relaxed knowing he wasn’t in danger.

“He kinda jumped out a window when class ended and his siblings and all of their friends followed him. Aizawa-sensei kicked us all out right after that, so I have no idea where he is right now.”

“Well, we might as well check the classroom, since that was the last place inside he was at, I am too lazy to go outside to look for him.” Midoriya laughed and the two started walking to the 1-A classroom. 

Unfortunately, upon reaching the classroom they found it empty.

They walked in to find Aizawa’s yellow sleeping bag discarded on the floor. They looked at eachother and frowned. Aizawa almost always took naps during lunch, so where could he be?

“Let’s go check the staff room, I guess.” Shinso suggested.

“Are we even allowed in there?” Midoriya asked nervously and Shinso rolled his eyes.

“We can check Recovery Girl’s office first, I mean you did say he jumped out a window, if that makes you feel more comfortable. We aren’t breaking any rules though, we are just looking for our… friend…” Shinso trailed off.

“It makes sense to check her office first and then we can check the staff room!” Midoriya decided.

“What are you two checking those places for?” A voice suddenly asked from the doorway. 

“Just looking for Gaara!” Midoriya squeaked. 

“Oh, I guess you wouldn’t know.” Midnight said sympathetically.

“What.” Shinso said sharply.

“CPS called and said it was time for their home inspection. They all had to go home.” Midnight told them.


	71. Chapter 68 ~ Enter: Child Protective Services

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This chapter was fun to write and we hope you enjoy it! We hope you had a good thanksgiving if you participate, or at least a tolerable one. Family gatherings can be rough… And a safe one!!!! Uhh… I think that is it. So uh, see some of you again on Monday for Rise of the Phoenix and the rest of you next week!

The car ride home was tense. 

After the confused twins had been collected and they left the school in the car, Yamada had started panicking.

“Sho. What if we fail? What if there is like a carbon monoxide leak that we didn’t know about because our detector has faulty wiring? What if they hate the fact that there are dishes from this morning that haven’t been washed yet? What if-”

“Hizashi. You need to breathe.” Aizawa interrupted his husband and Kankuro snorted.

“What if they hate cats?” Kankuro laughed and received a jab, but it was too late: Yamada looked mortified and Aizawa even looked a little more worried than normal.

“Kankuro just uses humor to cope with fear, ignore him. He is just as worried as you guys are.”

“Who could hate cats? They are fluffy.” Gaara spoke up, interjecting himself into the conversation, causing Aizawa to sigh.

“Despite how unlikely and horrific it may seem, some people cannot stand to be around cats for no reason at all.” Aizawa explained, his voice grave. Gaara nodded along, looking mortified. 

“ _ Heyyyyyyy…. Can we kill those people?”  _ Shukaku jumped on a possible opportunity.

Gaara’s face furrowed in thought.

“What are you thinking about, Gaara?” Temari asked from beside him.

“No, I think that would be wrong. Torture could be an option…” Gaara decided, looking upset.

“Uhh… Gaara? Who are you planning on torturing?” Yamada asked, concerned.

“Shukaku asked if we could kill the people that hate cats, I eventually concluded that it would be wrong to kill people when I have decided to become a hero.”

“Ah, the neverending debate of murder, a wonderful topic. Though some would see it as a just end to criminals, others might find it too quick, too final. In such a situation, torture is the way to go. A never ending life of torment as the victim regrets their decision and slowly loses their mind.” Kankuro sighed, looking out the window while everyone but Gaara stared at him in concern.

“ _ Tourture sounds great. Really great. Let’s do that.”  _ Shukaku nodded.

“Um. Kankuro. Let’s not say anything like that in front of the CPS workers, ok? And Gaara honey, you can’t torture people and become a hero unless the government ordains it.” Yamada said gently, and Gaara nodded understandingly.

“Kankuro. How many times have I told you to keep your weird thoughts to yourself!” Temari scolded, before turning to Gaara, “You aren’t just deciding that because you feel forced to right? We will support you no matter what!” Gaara shook his head.

“I want to help people and I think I would be good at helping people through hero work. I don’t think I could be a doctor. Hospitals are scary and too clean.” Gaara said and Temari turned to hug him.

“You are going to be a wonderful hero! I’m just happy you can finally make decisions like these for yourself…” Temari trailed off, “I need today to go well. You guys have done so much for us and Gaara is flourishing. We can survive being put somewhere else, but Gaara and you guys need each other. I-” 

“No. You are wrong. We need all of you. You guys are our family now, we are not letting you go unless it would do harm to any of you.” Aizawa narrowed his eyes, interrupting Temari. 

“Yah! You little listeners are family! Doesn’t matter how soon you will move out, you can always consider us your parents.” Yamada teared up and Temari followed soon after. Gaara just sighed and hid inside his sand to the mortification of Yamada. 

‘ _ Emotions are messy.’ _ Gaara decided.

When the car stopped, Gaara removed his protective shell to find no one moving to get out of the car. 

“Are they not waiting for us?” Gaara asked, nodding to the two people sitting on the stoop of the home.

Gaara’s words seemed to shock the car back into reality, “Uh, yeah little listener, let’s go great them.”

The family slowly exited the car and walked up to the house.

“KAKASHI! The residents of this abode have arrived! It is time to get up and get motivated! Youth doesn't wait forever, you know!” Yelled a person with a bright teal suit and orange tie as soon as he saw the family walk up. He had been doing pushups but surprisingly did not look tired or sweaty.

“Who said I wanted to be youthful?” a man lying on the ground with a book over his face replied, sighing, but closed his book and got up nonetheless.

“Hello. My name is Hatake Kakashi and this overenthusiastic person is my co-worker Maito Gai and we will be performing your home inspection as I explained over the phone.”

“These two remind me of Aizawa and Yamada.” Kankuro whispered to Temari, who nodded her head with wide eyes. 

“Sorry for interrupting your work and school day, but as you know, you cannot be aware of the appointment time! However, at least you can gaze upon my handsome features!” Maito apologized.

“It’s fine. If you let me by I can unlock the door.” Aizawa said, voice strained from repressed stress. 

Maito saluted and moved off the stoop and Aizawa unlocked the door and stepped inside. 

Walking in Temari asked, “Can we go put our bags in our rooms, or…” 

“Sorry, but not yet. We have to be able to claim that the inspection was completed without any interference otherwise it is not valid.” Hatake stated and Temari sighed.

“I am going to go inspect with,” Maito looked down at his folder, “Aizawa Shota! Ka- I mean, Hatake will be staying here to ask the rest of you questions.” 

‘And make sure you don’t leave’ remained unsaid.

Aizawa followed stiffly after the charismatic man.

“I think we shall start upstairs and work our way down.” the man nodded to himself as he started marching up the stairs, “So what is this room?” He pointed to the first door on the left.

“That is Kankuro’s room.” Aizawa answered as Maito opened the door.

‘ _ Oh great, he is going to open the room to see like a crime scene or something isn’t he.’  _ Aizawa groaned to himself before being shocked by the room revealed.

The room was extremely clean and looked meticulous in the way everything was laid out. Aizawa really didn’t think Kankuro’s personality would have yielded this clean of a room. There were also posters of cacti on the walls, as well as plushies of cats and succulents on his bed which was also neatly made.

“What are these objects?” Maito asked, gesturing to puppets hanging from the ceiling.

“Those are Kankuro’s puppets. He uses them with his quirk, and has built all of them himself.” Aizawa said, proudly.

“That is the power of youth!” Maito grinned, “I can see he really likes cacti.”

“Yes. He is obsessed.”

“What is this scorch mark on the floor here?” Maito inquired, lifting up a rug after spotting something odd.

Aizawa sighed, “Last night we had an incident. Kankuro decided it would be a good idea to experiment with fire for a new puppet. Thankfully, we were able to respond to the fire in time before much damage was done. We redirected him to the school support lab.”

“Good idea. Safety is important in experimentation!” Maito gave a thumbs up.

Gaito left the room and walked to the next one, waiting as Aizawa trailed after.

“This is Temari’s room.” Aizawa said without prompting.

They walked in to find another well kept room, this one looked barely lived in although the bed was made just as neatly as Kankuro’s.

Aizawa frowned as he looked at the bare room, and Maito did not miss it.

“What seems to be the problem?” Maito asked, face furrowing in suspicion. 

“The twins rooms seem oddly clean… I have never seen a teen’s room this clean before. Plus, Temari seems to have like no personal stuff…” Aizawa muttered, “I think I should ask them to get into therapy again… this doesn’t seem healthy.” Maito frowned.

“You haven’t been in their rooms before?”

“We try and give them as much space as possible, since we know they didn’t have any personal space with their sp-birth father. And yes, before you ask, we did ask them if they would like to speak to someone, and they said no… now I am thinking we should be a little more persistent. They don’t like to take care of themselves.”

“They don’t?” Maito asked, confused.

“No. Their entire existence revolves around their brother. We have really been trying to have them do their own things and think more selfishly, but it has been really hard because we don’t want them to close themselves off to us.” 

“That makes sense!” Maito nodded and walked out of the room and stopped in front of the bathroom, only opening the door after Aizawa introduced it.

Maito did not spend much time in the bathroom and soon they were in front of the last room upstairs.

“This is Gaara’s.” Aizawa introduced, feeling like he was repeating himself.

Maito opened the door to reveal four cats blinking up at them from the bed. This was the messist of the rooms, but that was certainly attributed to the four miscreants looking at them innocently.

“Gaara has a strange something that attracts all cats in the general vicinity to him. It is really bizarre.”

“Uh… why is there sand all over this room? It looks like a beach I would spend my days tanning on in my young days.”

Aizawa sighed, “Gaara has a sand controlling quirk. I think it makes him feel safer or more comfortable to have sand around him. Because of this, we usually let him put his sand wherever, since that kid deserves to feel safe.”

Maito nodded before looking over the rest of the room. After he was finished, the pair walked downstairs and Maito continued his examination of the house as Aizawa as his guide.

Meanwhile, Yamada and the siblings were stuck with Hatake in the living room.

“Ok. I am going to ask you all questions as a group, then separately after Maito is done with his inspection.” Hatake sighed. 

“ _ Ooh~ does this mean I get to answer questions?”  _ Shukuku asked.

“ _ No. Unless you are asked directly.” _ Gaara responded. 

“Ok.” Hatake looked down at his folder, “Could you all explain, one person talking at a time, what a day looks like living here?”

The family looked at each other nervously, knowing they were about to describe chaos.


	72. Chapter 69 ~ Pass or Fail: CPS Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! Uh I had something to say, but I totally don’t remember… uhhh love you all and thank you guys for everything! Also a reminder sense we keep getting questions on this. Damaged not Broken gets updated every Friday and Rise of the Phoenix is every Monday. If this would change it would be posted both on our announcements on Wattpad and also our discord (https://discord.gg/MvE6BWr) feel free to join and come talk at us or whatever. Enjoy! I remember now! This is not accurate except some of the questions… so take it with a grain of salt.

“So the plate went where?” Hatake asked, rubbing his temples.

“It flew to the top of the cabinet and teetered on the edge before spinning to a stop. Surprisingly the plate was not damaged at all. After that everything was fine and Mustachio was sitting on Gaara’s head again and Swirls was stuck with Aizawa’s capture scarf.” Kankuro said gleefully.

“That sounds… interesting.” Hatake said, his voice far away.

“Yes! It is interesting, but totally not uh…” Yamada trailed off, not really certain where to take his thought. 

“What is interesting?” Maito announced from the hallway, with Aizawa trailing tiredly after him. 

“Oh, they were just telling me about the scenes the cats cause.” Hatake answered, relief causing his shoulders to sag, “Now I am going to talk to you all individually. Aizawa, you are up first.” 

At those words, Aizawa somehow looked even more tired as he followed the white haired man before he suddenly stopped in front of Aizawa. 

“Where can we go where there is privacy and we won’t be able to be heard?” Hatake inquired.

Aizawa sighed, “We can go out on the back patio.” Hatake nodded and Aizawa led the way.

The pair sat across from each other at a soft pink table with woven magenta chairs.

“Yes, I know the table and chairs do not compliment the colors inside the home, and no I do not care.” Aizawa disclosed, before Hatake opened his mouth.

“Ok then… but that wasn’t a question I was going to ask.” Aizawa bowed his head in apology.

“Sorry, everyone usually asks about them.”

“It’s fine. Tell me about the siblings.” Hatake dismissed. 

“Well, they are really good kids for the most part. Although it is certainly easy to see the way their past has affected them. As they have grown more comfortable with us, the twins especially, are growing less selfless and beginning to see that it is ok to take care of yourself as well. Gaara just needs to have experiences, I think.” Aizawa frowned, “I am no expert, but we got him to agree to therapy. I think it will really help him connect with the emotions that he has been separated from, especially with his school life. He has friends for the first time in years, the twins told us. In fact, two of them came over for the day yesterday. The other two did not take up the offer of talking to someone. We don’t want to force them into something they are uncomfortable with, that would just harm them instead of helping them.” Hatake nodded, writing down notes as Aizawa spoke. 

Besides the nodding and writing, Hatake’s body language revealed nothing.

“There is a note in the youngest ones profile that says he is violent, and that is one of the reasons that he was placed in your care to begin with. Tell me, have his tendencies changed?” Hatake questioned and Aizawa stiffened.

“Gaara was not violent from the beginning. People just saw his quirk as a threat, and yes I am able to quell any misbehavior from his quirk. However, this is not his fault and the kid is really a kind person, as well as extremely smart and gifted. He wishes to be a hero to help others, not to harm, and his quirk is getting less volatile, and even it has been misunderstood.” Aizawa was careful not to disclose much about the nature of the Tails quirk and Shukaku himself. Although Gaara was open about sharing Shukaku, Aizawa was afraid of the consequences if the wrong person was to find out.

“I’m glad to hear that. I also knew someone with a quirk that caused them to receive similar treatment. He ended up committing suicide because of how alone he felt.” ( **_Not Naruto. FYI although Kurama has been… not that we will meet him… but yeah! Uh hints to the future/past… you’re welcome? I think? Plannnnzzzz)_ **

“I have lost too many students and alumni to that.” Aizawa sympathized. Both of the men getting a far away look in their eyes.

“How often do you both spend time with them since you both work at least two jobs?” Hatake asked, and Aizawa crossed his legs.

“We both work at UA so we take them to and from school to start with. I work as a hero at night, but I had taken at least two weeks off to help them get comfortable living here. I then was injured protecting my students and I can go back to work tomorrow. Yamada only has work on Fridays, and I can easily request to not work those nights. Yamada is determined to have at least one family activity per week so the siblings can have the experiences they didn’t have and also to bond, that is of course if we are approved to adopt them.” Aizawa listed off. 

“Do you and your husband have any marital issues?”

Aizawa shook his head, “The only thing we really disagree on is the small stuff. If we do by chance get into a fight, we make sure to cool off before either of us say something we'll regret.”

“Ok, how are decisions reached and what activities do you do together?”

“Depending on how important it is, we will usually just talk about it and if we have to, analyze the pros and cons. We like to spend a lot of time together in the house, I am not one for large social gatherings. Other than that, if an opportunity comes up to get out, we usually take it.”   
  


“What was your childhood like and how do you think it shaped you?” Hatake inquired, reading from his folder.

Aizawa’s face turned shadowed, “I didn’t have the best childhood. My parents were neglectful and abusive, but the Yamada’s found out and I was their foster child starting at the end of my first year in highschool. I think it made me more aware of the darker side of the world and it certainly makes me want to watch the problem children and have them be somewhere I know they will be safe with a family.” 

Hatake nodded and clicked his ballpoint pen, retracting the tip, and pulled out the book he had earlier.

“That will be all. Will you send Yamada out now?” Hatake queried and Aizawa nodded in response, anxiety causing him to almost walk into the sliding glass door. 

Aizawa walked into the house grumbling, shuffling back into the living room. 

**_~~~_ **

Yamada fiddled nervously with his hair as Hatake stared at him from across the table. 

“Why do you want to adopt the three siblings?” Hatake finally asked.

Yamada perked up at the easy question, “I want to be able to give them the best life they can possibly have!”

“And you think your house is the best place for that, with two jobs and one of them is being a pro hero I might add?” Hatake yawned, side eyeing his book that was placed carefully beside him. 

Yamada’s expression faltered, “Well, we both have been making sure that we give the kids priority while also completing our other duties. We also get to spend a surprising amount of time together, especially since we all commute to the same school! And because of our jobs, we can afford anything that they may need care wise as well as education, hobbies, fun days, anything that is within reason! I just want them to be happy. They really deserve it.” Yamada paused, “If they didn’t want to stay here, we wouldn’t have tried to adopt them. We would have done everything we could to find them a fit. However, they agreed and were even excited at the prospect. I think they just want what they desperately need, a family that cares for them.” Yamada finished as Hatake just stared at him.

“Who is each child the closest with?” Hatake sighed, annoyed by the man’s nervous energy.

Yamada frowned, “I am not sure at this point. It took a lot to break the ice and start to really get to know them.” Hatake gave a nod.

“That makes sense. Can you describe the health of you and your husband?” 

“I mean, despite any injuries we get during our jobs, excellent. Shota has had to have eye surgery before, he has problems with them because of his quirk, and I have hearing damage because of mine, but that is all. Oh wait, Shota has chronic joint pain, but that isn’t like health related, just pain? I mean-”

“Ok, that is enough. I get the picture.” Hatake cut him off, “Send in Kankuro now.” Hatake rubbed the bridge of his nose as Yamada nervously hopped away in the direction of the living room. 

**_~~~_ **

**** Kankuro strutted out onto the patio with an air of protective confidence. 

Hatake watched with a raised eyebrow as he plopped down on the patio seat, before narrowing his eyes.

“These colors don’t match the color scheme of the house. Chaos. I like it.” Kankuro said, although internally wincing at the random color change. 

“Uh yeah.” Hatake settled on, not sure what to say.

They sat in silence as Kankuro stared at the table and then the house, trying to stop a scowl.

“So, how do you like living here?”

“I love living here. Aizawa and Yamada are really kind and supportive. They make sure everything is ok with us and everything. It’s been weird,” Kankuro admitted, “We never really had parental figures that were involved in our lives before, and admittedly I originally only decided to stay here because family would be good for Gaara. But Yamada and Aizawa had a way of convincing me otherwise. I realized that we all can be a family together, and Gaara doesn’t have to have parents or Temari and I, he can have both.” 

“Who does work around the house?” Hatake inquired.

“I get to cook!” Kankuro said proudly, “It took awhile for Yamada to share the kitchen since it was such a habit, but now we take turns cooking. Other than that, we don’t really have set things to do. We all help out in our own ways. I think that maybe they don’t want to put a lot of pressure on us? Although, Yamada really likes to clean, so, there could be that.”

“Alright, do you have anything else to say?”

“Nope! I don’t think so anyways, not very good at this questioning thing.” Kankuro concluded.

( **_guess he should never commit a murder, then)_ **

**** “...Ok then… send in Temari then.” Kankuro gave a nervous salute and walked back into the living room.

**_~~~_ **

“How have you liked living here?” Hatake asked a nervous Temari. She really didn’t want to be the reason the adoption failed, not that she had anything bad to say, it was all good, but she couldn’t help but be worried.

“Yes I have. It’s a very different environment than what we have had in the past, and it is a good difference. Yamada and Aizawa actually care for us while I am not too sure Rasa really had any interest in us at all. Everytime I start comparing the two houses, I really see how our family should have been. We fit in here. It’s like out of a story book. I keep thinking one day I will wake up and it will all have been a dream, and Gaara and Kankuro will still be stuck in a place where they will never do well. I am so glad that Aizawa and Yamada offered to take all of us in instead of letting us get separated. It has been really amazing so far.” 

‘So please don’t take it away from us’ Her eyes seemed to plead.

“Anything else you would like to add?” Hatake sighed and Temari shook her head.

“Ok, send Gaara out here now.”

**_~~~_ **

“ _ This is the guy who seems like he is in charge. The other one seems too… insane.”  _ Shukaku theorized, “ _ So if we kill this one…” _

__ “No.” Hatake looked up as Gaara spoke out of nowhere, “ _ If we kill him we can’t stay here. I want to stay here.” _

“No?” Hatake questioned and Gaara didn’t answer, sitting down silently.

“So tell me about living here?”

**_~~~_ **

“Should we have warned him that Gaara doesn’t talk much?” Temari asked suddenly and Kankuro’s face turned pensive.

“Nah, he has been talking more often, and besides, our little bro can stare him into submission.” Kankuro laughed and Maito looked confused.

“Does the young youth  **_(#notproperenglish)_ ** not like to talk?”

“I think he just doesn’t feel like talking, and he definitely doesn’t talk much to those he doesn’t trust.” Kankuro shrugged.

“The little bean is certainly a ‘to the point’ kind of talker.” Yamada agreed.

“You should hear him call out some of his classmates in class, he is quite brutal.” Aizawa snorted and Temari nodded.

“Sounds like Gaara. Very blunt.” Temari agreed and Kankuro looked aghast.

“Our baby brother is the most adorable, kind hearted, sharped mouth, kid on the planet. He is not blunt.” Kankuro protested and Temari looked at him with eyebrows raised, “Ok, maybe he is a little blunt. BUT! He is still adorable.”

“Yes Kankuro, Gaara is adorable.” Yamada comforted, patting him on the back.

“I just hope Gaara doesn’t spend the entire time staring at him…” Temari trailed off.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara stared at the man in front of him. 

They had been silently sitting there for about five minutes since Hatake asked his first question.

“Um, could you please tell me about what living here is like?” Hatake finally asked again, staring down at his notes.

‘ _ The notes don’t say anything about him being selectively mute or deaf… although I don’t recall him saying anything when I was talking with the family earlier.’ _

__ Gaara shrugged.

“There are fluffy cats here. There were not any fluffy cats before.”

“Ok… what about Yamada or Aizawa? Anything to say about them?”

“They are nice, although for some reason Yamada doesn’t want sand in the kitchen.” Gaara frowned, “I really like living here. There are cats. And I can pet them all I want. I can also have friends over… and have friends. I wasn’t allowed that before.”

“ _ Not after last time…” _ Gaara thought to himself.

“That’s good, I see you like cats?” Hatake prompted, recognizing that was something the kid seemed to talk willingly about.

“Yes, they are fluffy. Yamada and Aizawa even let me get one that is my own, although they all just stay in my room anyways… but I love my cat.”

“Ah, that’s good. So they are treating you well?” Gaara nodded.

“I really like them.” Gaara said softly and Hatake smiled.

“How about school, everything going ok there? Did they give you what you needed to catch up?”

“Yes, everything is fine and they did.” Gaara nodded.

“Ok, if you don’t have anything else to add we can be done.” Hatake closed his folder and stood up.

“My therapist is also fluffy. And so is the angry pomeranian’s hair in my class. Your hair looks fluffy.” Gaara narrowed his eyes from his seat and sand started pooling around Hatake.

“Uh-” Hatake was cut off by Gaara floating up and touching his hair. 

Gaara nodded, “Fluffy.” and instantly set Hatake gently down and nodded again at him with respect as if Hatake had passed some sort of test.

“Alright kid, that’s cool. Next time you can just ask.” Hatake sighed, relieved that the kid wasn’t going to attack him as Gaara’s face lit up with hope.

“GAARA! PUT THE NICE MA-” Yamada rushed out panicked, leading the group of everyone inside.

“It’s quite alright. He just wanted to see if my hair was fluffy.”

The group sighed in relief.

“Sorry, just got a little panicked you had asked him an obscure question and he took it literally and was about to like put you in a tree or something…”

Gaara looked at him indignantly.

“I wouldn’t have put him in a tree.” Gaara scoffed and Hatake looked on in shock and confusion.

“Sorry Gaara, you sometimes don’t get figures of speech and such.” Yamada apologized, and the boy shrugged.

“Why don’t you guys head inside, Hatake and I have to have a chat.” Maito suggested, causing the tension to suddenly rise, and the family headed back into the living room. 

It felt like it took hours for the pair to come back in.

The family looked at the two men with fear in their eyes.

“You guys might want to sit down for this.” Hatake said, mournfully.

**_If we were mean we would end it right here… (((if we didn’t want to move on we would end it right here… so consider yourselves lucky.))) (((so we are mean… just lazy mean people.))) (((also lonely)))(((but hey that’s a little deep so uhhh… back to the no cliffhanger.)))_ **

“Hmmm… how do I put this? My first impression of all of you was that you are all a bunch of idiots.” The group looked at him shocked, “However, you are a bunch of idiots that all love each other. So we wish you luck in the future, you pass the inspection.” the family’s faces turned from shock to even more intense shock and disbelief. 

Suddenly they all were hugging, Gaara being reluctantly dragged into the chaotic group hug that even Aizawa seemed to be a part of.

“I have something else to say.” the group paused, fearing the worst, “The holes in your heart get filled by those around you. Fill the holes in each other’s hearts and stay strong in the days to come. We will see you on Thursday for the hearing. Expect the truth from us.”

“Yes, the power of youth runs strong in this household!” Maito smiled and gave a thumbs up, teeth shining.

“ _ Am I the only one seeing how impossibly white his teeth are? Is that his quirk?”  _ Shukaku panicked.

Gaara just rolled his eyes as everyone started to bid farewell to the two inspectors.

“ _ So you happy now?”  _ Shukaku asked.

  
“ _ Yes. I think I will be happy here.”  _ Gaara smiled, but everyone was too busy to notice and the boy floated up into his room to cuddle with the cats.


	73. Chapter 70 ~ The Three C’s: Confrontation, Confusion, and Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. So this week has been really bad for me. My family has a lot of issues and stuff happened on Saturday, conveniently placed on a day that would start off my week with emotional overloads. So, this update is a little shorter and we apologize for that. Oversharing a bit but wanted to let ya know what is going on. (besides my therapist said it was good to share stuff like this XDDDDDDD so uh sorry y’all.) I also got put on new meds that seem to make me really sleepy, so we couldn’t get as much done when either of us had homework. (I think? This was just me… essays mostly.) Before this goes too deep XD, thank you all for everything! If you feel like it, join our discord. We would love to talk to y’all! Also if we don’t update on next Friday, it is because RotP reader(s) decided to murder us because of the chapter we are about to publish on Monday…… soooooo uh. Enjoy!
> 
> (https://discord.gg/HxxGzvkbzy)

Gaara was greeted when he walked up to the classroom doorway by Midoriya and Shinso standing with determined expressions blocking the door. 

Gaara frowned looking at the pair in confusion, had he done something wrong?

“ _ I mean- you disappeared yesterday after texting them there was a fire and a child died so I meannnnnnn”  _ Shukaku suggested.

“Hi?” Gaara finally said after the three friends had been standing in the hallway for an uncomfortable period of time.

“Come in, sit down.” Shinso said sternly, waving Gaara into the classroom, stepping aside. Gaara shrugged and went to his seat, Midoriya and Shinso following after him. 

“Let me tell you what is up.” Shinso declared.

“ _ Is he talking about some secret thing that is above us? Like a treasure or threat?”  _ Shukaku just laughed in response, shaking his head.

“You are going to sit here and answer all of our questions, right Midoriya?” Midoriya startled at being called out.

“Y-yes.” Midoriya stutterd.

“Now. You are going to tell us what happened yesterday and the night before, since you didn’t bother to answer our texts. So-” Gaara blinked.

“ _ Oh.” _

“Kankuro set part of the house on fire because he was messing with a new puppet or whatever. He also killed his cactus that he loves. Yesterday was weird. Two people that kind of acted like Aizawa and Yamada showed up and asked a lot of questions and looked at the house. Then they said we passed. The cats seemed to be acting strangely last night, but they all still wanted me to pay attention to them so Shukaku told me not to worry about it.” Gaara explained.

Gaara felt a pain flash through him when he realized he had upset his new friends by not telling them what was going on. He would be more sharing in the future if they still allowed him to be their friend.

Midoriya and Shinso sagged in relief. 

“We were worried that something bad had happened since you didn’t respond.” Shinso said and Midoriya nodded.

“Yeah! I am so happy the house and the environment passed the test! You guys seem like a really great family! Also, if I am still invited to the party… could I uh… have information? And if you need anything from me… could you let me know soon? I understand if you don’t want me there, I totally get it.” The green boy rushed out.

Gaara sighed and picked up Midoriya with his sand. 

“Just show up. Don’t bring anything. I apologize that I don’t know the date yet, but I will let you know. I don’t want to be there. However, if I have to be there, you should be there too. I don’t want to be stuck with the Auntie that long alone. At least with you there, she will not pay as much attention to me. Besides, aren’t friends supposed to go to each other’s parties?” Gaara inquired of Midoriya, who had at first tried to escape the sand, but deemed it hopeless and was now listening while dangling loosely.

“Oh! Yeah. I just, you know… can get annoying sometimes.” Midoriya exclaimed, surprised and fidgeting with his hands, causing Shinso to roll his eyes.

“You are literally the least annoying person I know besides Gaara. Don’t worry about that. Besides. Gaara isn’t one to invite us and change his mind later. He literally says what he thinks, and that is it.” Shinso scoffed and rolled his eyes, seeing Iida in the doorway. 

“Annnnnnnnnd I am out.” Shinso declared as he watched Iida’s mouth open, “Bye fellow queer insominacs, see you guys at lunch. Good luck with Mr. Rules.” Shinso gave a little wave and walked out of the classroom. 

Iida turned and watched Shinso leave his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. 

Midoriya was still being held in the air and both the poor green haired boy and the red haired one were watching the scene with heads tilted to the side.

Iida finally collected himself and turned toward the pair, “Gaara-kun! Unauthorized quirk usage is not permitted!!! Put Midoriya-kun down.” Midoriya started to struggle again, but Gaara just kept his head in confusion.

**_(You know… it’s not unauthorized… :) )_ **

**** “What does that mean? Also Shinso didn’t tell us where to meet him for lunch… I think we should text him. Oh, and do you not sleep as well?” Gaara inquired.

“It means that you should put him down. You are not allowed to use your quirk without permission and certainly not on other people!” The blue haired kid said.

“ _ Welp. Bye then. So long. I am not authorized, so I guess I can’t exist.”  _ Shukaku sighed mournfully.

“I am sorry. That is not possible. Shu-” Gaara was suddenly cut off by Midoriya activating his quirk and also by Aizawa inching his way into the classroom and also into the conversation. 

“Iida. Gaara has allowances because of his background and also the nature of his quirk.” Aizawa dismissed, while Iida’s face lit up in curiosity, “Gaara. Please put Midoriya down. Do not throw him, do not jump out the window with him, do not drop him, set him gently down on the classroom floor please.” Gaara sighed as he complied, Iida growing further confused and concerned.

Midoryia hurried and sat beside Gaara hesitantly. He figured he could sit beside his friend until the owner of the seat came in. 

“Uh, yeah. I am an insomniac. Shinso and I have been talking in the chat and that is why he knows that.” Aizawa listened closely, concerned by this new information while Gaara winced.

“I will use the chat more often, sorry…” Gaara trailed off and Iida turned to look at them.

“First, I would like to apologize to Gaara-kun.” Iida bowed, “I would also like to inquire about this group chat?” 

“Uh, we have been using it to communicate about random things. Originally it was for information.” Midoriya explained, messing with his tie.

“Ah. This seems like it would be good for our class, especially to give out information.” Iida declared.

“Actually,” Aizawa interrupted, “You have a point. Midoriya.” The boy sat bolt upright, “You are in charge of gathering everyone’s numbers. If they do not have one, get an email or something. Also. See me after school today. I won’t interrupt your lunch time. Have fun with your friends.” Midoriya looked like he was about to faint.

“A-alright sir!” He managed, slumping onto the desk. 

Meanwhile, Gaara was texting in the group chat.

**Midoriya and Projectile**

Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=) [7:39 am]: Where are we meeting you for lunch?

Projectile [7:40 am]: Me?

_ Projectile changed the chat name to insomniac queers™  _

_ Projectile changed Midoriya’s name to needs_selfconfidence _

_ Projectile changed Cat_Overlord (=ↀωↀ=)’s name to needs_meme_education _

_ Projectile changed their name to needs_beefy arms  _

needs_meme_education [7:40 am]: yes

needs_meme_education [7:40 am]: Meme?

needs_beefy arms [7:42 am]: exactly.

needs_beefy arms [7:42 am]: Uh. that one hallway? 

needs_meme_education [7:43 am]: sure.

needs_selfconfidence [7:44 am]: AHHHH I AM GOING TO DIEEEEE

needs_selfconfidence [7:44 am]: also :( 

needs_beefy arms [7:44 am]: Y? You currently in danger of being flung out a window?

needs_selfconfidence [7:45 am]: No, Aizawa tasked me with gathering the class’ phone numbersssss I HAVE TO TALK TO THEM ALLL

needs_beefy arms [7:45 am]: look at your name in chat again

needs_selfconfidence [7:45 am]: :( 

needs_beefy arms [7:46 am]: just ask Gaara to help you. I am sure he can get all of the information on intimidation alone. 

needs_meme_education [7:47 am]: I can help. 

needs_selfconfidence [7:47 am]: Thanks Gaara. 

needs_beefy arms [7:47 am]: I already see the train wreck from here

needs_selfconfidence [7:48 am]: :(

Midoriya and Gaara were startled out of their phone chat by Iida walking over to them with a piece of paper in his hand. 

“Here you go, Midoriya. This is my number.” Iida placed the paper in Midoriya’s outstretched hand and walked away. 

Midoriya sighed thinking about the long day ahead of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://discord.gg/HxxGzvkbzy


	74. Chapter 71 ~ Revelry in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all. So funny story. I had to go to the emergency room on Thursday night, some of you know this already but yeah. So I had a rough few days so we called my doctor. I was almost passing out and having a lot of tics in a row and it was a mess. SO I was asleep and the doctor got back to us and my mother was like they want you to go to the ER to get evaluated. Long story short, everything was fine for the most part, it was a bad reaction with my newest medication, so I just have to watch everything as my body gets rid of the medication. Enjoy the chapter, thank you guys for everything. (https://discord.gg/MvE6BWr)

By the time everyone arrived in class, Midoriya only had two phone numbers: Gaara’s and Iida’s.

He didn’t have to ask for either number, so he was doing great. Right?

Midoriya sunk into his seat. At least he was good at taking notes… not that he needed them, but at least that was one thing he could do well!

Gaara noticed Midoriya’s distress and thought that he should comfort his friend, as that is what friends do, right?

Gaara stretched out a hand made of sand, and it extended before stopping over Midoriya’s head.

Everyone in class froze except Yamada, who kept on speaking to them in english, even though no one but Midoriya was paying attention.

Even Bakugo, who was pretending to not be interested and definitely not worried about what Gaara was about to do to Midoriya.

Iida, having seen what happened before class, turned white when he saw the hand and jumped out of his seat, beginning to bring his hand towards Gaara.

Gaara’s sand hand hovered over Midoriya’s head like a blade of judgment, everyone wondering anxiously what was going to happen.

Oblivious to the scene he was causing, Gaara was deciding on how best to comfort his friend. 

Gaara wasn’t the best with affection, but Midoriya was like a cat. He is small, cute, and definitely fluffy. Gaara nodded to himself when he thought of the way that Aizawa gave affection to the cats, never Mustachio, when they did something well. Mustachio just got sighs and treats.

Midoriya, who was also oblivious to everyone’s fear for him, was furiously scribbling in his english notebook, fruitlessly hoping that his effort in English would translate over to confidence in social situations for the day.

Gaara brought the hand down to pat Midoriya’s head twice.

As Gaara’s hand started to come down, the class erupted into panic and shocked expressions. 

Yamada finally stopped teaching to watch Gaara pat Midoriya’s head twice.

( **_y’all this is english:_ ** _ yo, what’s up? Yeet. Fluffy Blankets. I need sleep. I don’t want to go to the hospital. Brain and Body Rebelion; the sequel. In theaters now. This was just supposed to be one sentence. I hope everyone is having a great day. Or night. Ya know, gotta include all the times. Cause it’s annoying when you see good morning but it is actually the afternoon.  _ **_This is not english Guten Morgen. Ich bien Iwa, du bist? Wasser und Brot. Shinji: Bonjour! Je m’appelle Shinji!_ ** __ **_)_ **

Squealing Yamada clapped his hands together, “ _ Gaara! You two are so adorable! Class, please note that this is the number two and not too as in too many, or to as in to the store.”  _ Yamada turned back to Gaara, “ _ Why don’t you do whatever that is after class though, I am glad you have friends, but it is time to learn!”  _ Yamada tried to sound professional but internally he was running around screaming in joy. 

Gaara was showing affection to another human being, not a cat even though he looked like one, in public. That meant the little listener was comfortable and happy! 

“ _ He was upset.” _ Gaara shrugged, retrieving his hand, “ _ Aizawa pats cats to comfort them.” _

_ “Aizawa has emotional constipation, listener. It’s not wise to follow his example… although you may have that too…”  _ Yamada trailed off, not noticing the class staring at the three hopelessly.

Each student understood a portion of what was said, or just a few words here and there, depending on their knowledge and skill with the english language. 

There was one student that was close to fluent in the class, and that was Jiro.

What the class didn’t know is that both Midoriya and Gaara were fluent in the language.

Yamada didn’t even realize that he was still talking in English, and didn’t know that only three people could understand what he was saying, so the two too to rule was waisted.

“ _ Hold on, I am not a cat!”  _ Midoriya protested, waving his arms desperately while Gaara cocked his head.

“ _ You are fluffy, small, and cute. Not to mention smart… although Mustachio isn’t smart. He is a pretty unintelligent cat.”  _ Midoriya instantly turned beat red.

“I’M WHAT!?” Midoriya jumped out of his seat in surprise, only to stumble and fall to the floor, or he would have if Gaara didn’t use his sand to catch him.

Sputtering, Midoriya was placed back into his seat and hearing the English, Yamada finally realized that he had been speaking in English and was now reeling in shock that Midoriya and Gaara had been holding a conversation with him.

“MIDORIYA!? YOU KNOW ENGLISH?!” Yamada shouted in surprise and the class winced, covering their ears. 

Eyebrows furrowed in pain, Midoriya lifted his hands off his ears, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Kaminari spoke up, “Dude. I only caught like parts of that… so if you could talk back I would think that it would be more than a guess…” and a lot of others nodded their heads.

“Nerd is fluent in English.” Bakugo scoffed, crossing his feet on his desk causing Iida to glare angrily at him.

“Why didn’t you say anything, little listener?” Yamada questioned, clearly excited.

Midoriya looked down, clearly uncomfortable, making himself as small as possible, “People don’t like it.” 

“Don’t like what dude, that’s super Manley ™ !” Kirishima shouted.

Several other people agreed in various ways but Yamada silenced them all with a frown, realizing something was wrong and the listener was clearly upset. 

“What about you Gaara, how could you possibly know English that well when you couldn’t tell me the alphabet the first day of school?!” Yamada furrowed his eyebrows in a panicked expression, trying desperately to figure it out.

Gaara shrugged. 

“I just read the book you gave me. Then read more. It wasn’t hard.” the class stared at him in shock. ( **_ok guys. We did not intend to go down this road. I just was like he would be in class during this. So I just said english! Then was like Mido is upset… head pats! Then it spiralled leading us here. Thank you._ ** )

Yamada gawked at Gaara and even Bakugo seemed to have a double take. 

“You DID WHAT?!” Yamada screeched and Gaara winced, annoyed, “HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO PRONOUNCE EVERYTHING FROM READING BOOKS?! HOW DID YOU LEARN AN ENTIRE LAN-” Gaara cut Yamada off with a sharp glare. Yamada instantly shuts up.

“You teach in English. I just paid attention. It’s not hard, although there are a lot of little fluctuations that I couldn’t figure out. Will you continue the lesson now?” Gaara huffed and Shukaku laughed, giving Gaara a double thumbs up. 

“Uhh… ok little listener.” Yamada turned back to address the class, “So the two, too, to rule…”

**_~~~_ **

It was now lunch and Midoriya was staring hopelessly at his classmates who were mingling, getting ready to go to the cafeteria. 

Iida caught his wandering gaze and gave him an encouraging hand chop, while Gaara looked on. 

Gaara was considering Shinso’s words earlier that morning. He really didn’t want his new friend to suffer. Gaara had finally decided to speak up when Tokoyami walked up to him looking determined.

“Can I talk to you outside of the classroom in a secluded area? I have a few questions that we would not want prying ears to overhear.” his classmate asked in a low tone. 

Gaara looked up and saw Midoriya bolting out of the classroom, so Gaara sighed and nodded, leading Tokoyami out of the door and down the hall.

When Gaara stopped in a hallway with two other people in it, Tokoyami looked at Gaara confused.

“Uh. This is not secluded, there are others present.” Gaara shrugged and sat down next to Shinso.

“They are my friends.” Gaara simply stated, and then stared at Tokoyami, expecting him to sit as well.

Tokoyami awkwardly sat down when Shinso started to glare at him with a face and said, “Hey, if the yah that is what the adorable boss said, you do it.” 

Gaara looked at him strangely to see Midoriya nodding and Shinso shrugging. 

“Hey. Just deal with it until I think of something else.” Shinso smirked.

Gaara also shrugged and Tokoyami looked confused.

“I am reveling in this chaotic energy.” Tokoyami nodded.

“So… cat whisperer… nope still not it,” Shinso noted, “What’s he doing here?” Tokoyami tensed up. 

“He said he wanted to ask me questions without prying ears.” Gaara shrugged and Midoriya and Shinso deadpanned.

“Ears like ours?” Shinso quirked an eyebrow. 

Gaara shrugged again and brought out his sand, forming three small cats that started running around, “You are my friends.”

“Ok… but what about Tokoyami… what if he didn’t want other people to know?” Midoriya questioned nervously. 

“It’s fine.” Tokoyami shrugged as Gaara did the same.

“Great. We found another one.” Shinso sighed.

“Dark Shadow?” Suddenly the dark birb popped out and Shinso was the only one who jumped.

“As Gaara and Midoriya know, this is Dark Shadow, my quirk. He is completely sentient of me.”

Midoriya perked up when he realized that this was going to be about quirks.

“At the sport’s festival… you seemed to not be in control of your own body, and some of the comments you made, caused great conundrums in my mind. What exactly happened?” 

“I got shot and passed out. Shukaku took over because there was danger. He had to lash out because my body was injured. Shukaku normally is just weird and sarcastic.” 

Tokoyami blinked at him and Shinso face palmed.

“Since Aizawa isn’t here, I will give you the whole shabang. Don’t tell anyone. Apparently it could get Gaara killed or something. It hasn’t been exactly clear… you know, the secret quirk and all.” Shinso waved his hand and Midoriya bounced with excitement.

“Tails! His quirk is the Tails quirk that has long been held as a myth as if the holders exist, they are extremely secretive. Gaara is obviously a confirmed holder but not confirmed because he also has to be secretive but he is not secretive. Shukaku is the name of his Tails quirk and even they don’t know very much about themselves. It is so cool, their connection is slowly getting stronger, see they hated each other before and like now who knows what they can do now that they are working together I don’t know if Shukaku will ever be able to physically manifest but as of right now Shukaku can come out and talk to us through Gaara and also listen to us all the time when he wants to and also share his power and let Gaara sleep even though he doesn’t have to because Shukaku can just supply him with more power and-” Midoriya suddenly stopped, “I was rambling, sorry.” Midoriya looked at the floor and hugged his knees to his chest.

“It’s fine babyyyyyy…” Shinso stopped and turned completely red, “Uh. Definitely not. Um. Uh. Sorry.” Midoriya was also dying, completely beet red.

“Uh. What I originally meant to say was, we all are fine with listening to it. It’s interesting. We all have our own things and everything is fine!” Shinso rushed out flustered, wincing as it came out really wrong.

Tokoyami stared on, knowing what was up, “What a mad banquet of darkness.” 

“Glad you like it, because you are a part of it now.” Shinso glared, wanting someone else but him to suffer, even though Midoriya was as well.

Gaara perked up, “New friend?”

Tokoyami blinked, “Well as long as you are all ok with that.” all three of them nodded, “Dark Shadow and I are a package deal.” They nodded again and Midoriya looked up.

“Well, we better eat lunch.”

“Midoriya, you should give me, his right? Number?” Shinso asked both Tokoyami and Midoriya.

“Why would Midoriya have my number? Also, I am agender. The void that is my soul has no bounds for earthly things such as gender. Pronouns have no meaning to my corporeal being, so use whatever your heart desires. Although Dark Shadow uses he/him.” Tokoyami informed them, “Thank you for asking.”

Midoriya blinked, “Does anyone in class know about this?” Tokoyami shrugged.

“It is not like I am hiding it, it just doesn’t really matter to me.” 

“That’s fair.” Shinso nodded, “So, Midoriya was supposed to collect your class’ numbers. So if you could give it to him he will add you.” 

Midoriya sighed, “I’m working on it, ok?” he pulled out his phone and Tokoyami inched closer to tell him their number. 

**insomniac queers™**

_ needs_selfconfidence added Tokoyami to insomniac queers™ _

needs_beefy arms [11:23 am]: Well I guess we don’t have to change the queer part, are you by any chance an insomniac?

_ needs_beefy arms changed Tokoyami’s name to the_birb_one(s) _

the_birb_one(s) [11:23 am]: How did you know, I revel in the darkness.

needs_beefy arms [11:24 am]: cool.

“Well that’s that, welcome to the group cat.” Shinso announced, “Glad that I didn’t have to change the name, I just came up with that one.”

“You fit right in!” Midoriya smiled, and Tokoyomi couldn’t help but smile back. 

**_~~~_ **

Soon enough it was time to go back to class, and Midoriya trudged, sighing, behind Gaara and Tokoyami. 

“Uh, Shukaku just brought up the fact we never talked to you about us. We can do that whenever, if you want.” Gaara suddenly spoke up, and Tokoyami looked over in surprise.

“That would be great.” Tokoyomi smiled and looked back at Midoriya.

“Is he going to be ok?” xe glanced back at Gaara. 

“I am going to help. It will all work out.” Gaara nodded to himself, sending another sand hand out to pat the boy on the head. 

Tokoyami nodded slowly, hoping things would turn out better than he thought they would. 


	75. Chapter 72 ~ Panic and No Disco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo! Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate those holidays. We had fun with this chapter… probably too much. It is really chaotic. But I feel like that is our writing style. Crack with hidden depression or just depression but well formulated. But yeah. Enjoy! And if you feel like it, feel free to chat with us! https://discord.gg/MvE6BWr

The three friends waved goodbye to Shinso as he parted ways, “Hopefully soon I will be going with you.” Shinso mourned.

“Of course you will! You’re amazing Shinso!” Midoriya gushed, causing Shinso to blush.

“Aizawa will probably want to train soon. I will let you know if he says something, or I will just ask.” Gaara amended, after Shukaku sighed.

Shinso’s expresion suddenly grew nervous.

“Bye Shinso! It will be alright! Aizawa-sensei isn’t that scary!” Midoriya tried to cheer the retreating boy with slight success.

“What a mad banquet of darkness.” Tokoyami repeated, and Gaara looked at him quizzically, “You will see soon enough.” Gaara shrugged, and the three walked the rest of the way to the classroom in silence.

When they got back, All Might was standing proudly in the front of the classroom, causing Gaara to sigh. 

“ _ Right when we were having a good day, too.”  _ Shukaku seconded Gaara’s sigh, and strangely, Midoriya also stiffened.

Gaara stalked to his desk and sat down with a huff, Todoroki sending him a strange look which Gaara retaliated with a sharp glare. 

**_(Gaara feeling feisty today XD)_ **

Todoroki blinked, turning to face forward. 

“HELLO CLASS!” All Might bellowed, “Today we will be,” the man paused to check the papers in his hands, “starting hostage situational training!” 

Iida raised his hand.

“Yes young Iida?” All Might grimaced.

“Sir! I am not questioning your expertise, but are we ever going to learn basic combat abilities?” Iida hand chopped.

“Yes, but with internships coming up, I thought that this lesson would be more appropriate. Just in case you run across it!” All Might announced.

“ _ It is always, I thought of this, and what about this!”  _ Shukaku mocked,  _ “I don’t think that man will ever teach hand to hand. Does he even know how to fight without his quirk? I doubt it. He just smashes things.” _ Gaara nodded in agreement, and All Might gave him a thumbs up thinking Gaara was agreeing with him.

“Now! We are off to the same field we were in yesterday!” Gaara blinked, annoyed. 

Todoroki saw this as his chance, “You can walk with me and I will lead you to the training grounds for today.”

Todoroki nodded to himself. It was perfect! Foolproof! Now Gaara would have to walk with him and Todoroki could finally get his answers.

Gaara looked at him blankly, “You could just tell me. Or I will just, you know, follow the rest of the class that will be also heading over there?” 

Todoroki winced as Gaara walked away, and Momo noticed and sent him a comforting look.

She always knew when he failed at something… it was like a sixth sense. Was that a lesbian thing? Todoroki certainly didn’t have that, so it must be. 

At least she was using it for good. She could just as easily make fun of him. 

Todoroki sighed and followed the rest of the class to the changing rooms. 

**_~~~_ **

Somehow, Gaara ended up being the first hostage. 

Three ‘heroes’ were tasked to rescue him, while three ‘villains’ had to keep him locked up.

Iida, Aoyama, and Mina were tasked to be the first group of villains while Tokoyami, Kaminari, and Kirishima had to rescue Gaara.

Gaara yawned as the three villains tied him up with the rope they were provided, barricading him in a small room in the simulated apartment complex. 

Five minutes had gone by and the exercise had not even started yet. Both sides were given time to plan their attacks, as the heroes would never barge into a situation without assessing it first, that would be a good way to get people killed.

Gaara had gotten out of the ropes by minute number nine, not liking the way that the rope rubbed against his skin. 

After fifteen minutes had passed, Gaara decided that he was done.

“Is there a way to just disappear out of here?” Gaara sighed.

“ _ Possibly. I think... yes.” _ Shukaku said, puzzled, and Gaara sat up straighter, not expecting an actual answer. 

“And how would we achieve this?”

“ _ Give me a minute! I’m thinking! But isn’t this exercise meant to have heroes rescue you? It would be weird if you were gone when they got here.” _

__ Gaara shrugged, “It’s boring in here. Keep thinking.”

Gaara was debating the retaliation that he would receive if he just destroyed the entire building for fun when Shukaku shouted victoriously.

“ _ I GOT IT! I think. But hear me out. SO. Theoretically because of me, your body is like almost all sand.” _

“I don’t think that is how it works. I am definitely not made of sand.”

“ _ I said THEORETICALLY!”  _ Shukaku empathised, “ _ Ok. let me finish this time. So I am made of sand… technically, so, if we like… become one… we would be almost all sand… which we could possibly force to other places.” _

__ “I don’t like all of the words that suggest that this will not work.” Gaara commented, lips pressed together.

“ _ Shut up. Do you have a better idea? Besides, I thought you were bored.”  _

__ “Fine. How do I do this.” 

_ “I don’t know! Just think sand thoughts! Become one with the desert or whatever!”  _ Gaara deadpanned, but started to do it all the same.

Like Shukaku said, it wasn’t like he had any better ideas.

“ _ Sand… floaty… beach… sandcastles… grains… sand on Yamada’s rug…”  _ Gaara opened his eyes with frustration.

“This isn’t working!” Gaara said, or meant to say, because when he opened his mouth, all that came out was sand. 

_ “Uh. It seems to be that you turned your innards to sand… so I would keep my mouth closed if I were you. Don’t really want to lose those…” _

__ Gaara promptly shut his mouth, falling back to the ground with a sigh.

“ _ Uh ok. Um. Try thinking of me! I look like a sand beast! If you look like me, your outside will be sand as well… right?” _

__ Gaara sent him a skeptical look but started thinking like Shukaku and picturing the tanuki in his head.

_ “Grrr… I don’t like people…. Popcorn… death… ripping people limb from limb… I am grumpy all the time… never happy… grrr…” _

“ _ Ok! I do NOT talk like that. Ok… maybe a little. But I don’t want to uh… dismember people unless you want to! We are a team now! So sacrifices must be made! Someone has to take care of you… so I guess it will be me. No one else would do a good job.” _

Gaara felt a warm spike in his heart, but didn’t have time to dwell on it, because something felt different. 

He opened his eyes to see sand swirling around the room. Looking down, he noticed that his hands were like cat paws made of sand, complete with toe beans. Sand ribboned all over his body and he reached up to feel long ears like the tanuki had. His arms looked like he had sand fur and if he could see his eyes, he would notice that one was a glowing gold with a purple pupil.  **_(XDD I took this too far. Creative freedom. I am gonna draw this. It will suck. But I am gonna do it anyways.)_ **

**** “Well we might as well try this.” Gaara remarked, voice coming out distorted and yet his own.

“ _ Try? We are gonna do this! I am not one to fail at anything! I bet we could-”  _ Shukaku was cut off by Gaara invisoning the area where the rest of the class was waiting, “ _ That seems like something we should do… keep doing whatever that is.” _

__ Their combined body began to vibrate and when Gaara opened his eyes, he saw the shocked faces of his classmates, as well as All Might.

“WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!” Sero screeched and several others echoed him.

Gaara tilted his head, considering how this looked. He guessed it would be surprising if someone randomly popped up in front of him.

“Uh… is he alive?” Uraraka whispered and Gaara looked around in confusion.

“Yes?” He confirmed, and then looked down, “Oh. Oops.” 

That look down revealed that Gaara’s head, that was still combined with Shukaku, was the only thing that made it to their destination.

“ _ Great job. You failed. This is not on me.” _

_ “ _ I didn’t fail. This is hard, why don’t you try it. Just give me a second.” Gaara closed his eyes again and the rest of his body was now attached to his head.

“That’s better.” Gaara nodded and sat down on the ground. His body returned to normal, and he looked up to sigh at the shocked faces.

“Uh… Young Gaara… why are you… out here?” All Might asked, recovering first.

“Being held hostage is boring. Also the room was dark and it smelled weird. Wasn’t the point for the hostage to escape?” 

“Uh. The point was for the heroes to rescue the hostage.”

“Fine. I will go back.” Gaara shrugged. The second time was significantly better. It only took a few seconds for Gaara to reappear back in the room.

Only to be met with the slack jawed face of Kaminari, who upon seeing Gaara, fainted.

**_~~~_ **

Kaminari was having a rough day. 

First, his sister had a shift that morning but insisted on driving him to school. This meant that Kaminari was awoken by cold water. Not the classic bucket of water, no. His sister had dropped him into a bathtub.

She was lucky she didn’t get electrocuted.

Second, his crush Sero told the Bakusquad that he was aromantic. Which was cool, he was happy his bro told them. But it still hurt. 

Bakugo made sure Sero know that he was supportive by announcing in a very Bakugo fashion that Sero’s dunce face was too dumb looking to get anyone, so it was a good thing he didn’t want anyone.

Mina just gave him a hug and announced that she was pan, and no one was surprised by this. 

Also to no one’s surprise, Kirishima shyly announced that he was gay, and Kaminari gave him a thumbs up and told him that was manly.

Kaminari didn’t say anything. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust his friends, he did! He knew they would totally accept him, just something kept him silent even when Bakugo fished out a rainbow pin and stuck it on his backpack, grunting at the hugs, but not fighting them for once.

So, Kaminari went to class guilty and sad.

The third thing that happened was in Cementoss’ math class. A flock of birds flew by the window and Kaminari’s attention suddenly shifted to the window.

The pro just had to call on him and ask him a question he had no idea how to answer, and everyone laughed at him.

Being frustrated definitely didn’t help him in history either. The words were swimming together and he couldn’t even start the essay they were supposed to write. Thankfully, it wasn’t due until Thursday.

When All Might paired him with his bro Kirishima, he thought that the day might be looking up.

The three actually came up with a solid plan, and executed it quite flawlessly in his opinion, however, when they arrived at the room where they thought the hostage was located, the three hit a snag.

“WE ARE TOO LATE! THEY BEHEADED GAARA!!!!” Kaminari panicked, gesturing at their classmate’s headless body crumpled on the floor. 

“I THOUGHT THIS WAS HYPOTHETICAL! A TRAINING EXERCISE” Kirishima shouted, equally as panicked. 

“The void takes all, there is no escape.” Tokoyami said mournfully, placing her hand over his heart.  **_(a mad banquet of pronouns. True to Tokoyami’s life… and mine… but anyways.)_ **

**** “What do we do?!” Kaminari shouted, but before anyone could answer, Gaara’s body disappeared in a swirl of sand.

Kirishima and Kaminari shrieked, jumping onto Tokoyami.

“WHAT IS GOING ON!”

**_~~~_ **

Gaara frowned at the collapsed form of Kaminari.

“I thought I was the one who was supposed to be rescued.”

“DUDE! YOU’RE ALIVE!!” Kirishima cried and Gaara’s frown deepened.

“How have the villains not captured you all. You are very loud.” Gaara turned to Tokoyami for answers.

“They are… occupied at the moment.” Tokoyami said eerily, making Gaara shrug and Shukaku feel more curious. 

Kaminari stirred from his position on the floor to see a normal Gaara that definitely had a head.

“Dude… what?” Kaminari asked, baffled. Did using his quirk to the maximum voltage finally cause long term hallucinations?

“Nevermind right now, we have to go.” Kirishima said, determinedly grabbing Gaara by the arm and dragging him down the hallway that they came down.

Tokoyami looked at Kaminari and shrugged, and they raced after them.

When they rejoined the group, All Might announced the heroes as the winners and went to go rescue the villains. 

No one will ever know what happened to them, but they came back looking haunted and refused to talk about it.

“Um. Ok! Gaara, you are still the hostage, so maybe be a proper one this time?” All Might suggested.

“Wait. Are we just going to not talk about what happened? I really need an explanation here.” Kaminari panicked and everyone looked to Gaara, while the three villains seemed confused.

“The room was boring and I wanted to see if I could teleport out. Turns out I can but I messed up and left my body behind. It isn’t a big deal.” Gaara shrugged and the class just looked at him. Midoriya made a note in his pocket notebook to question Gaara about it later, knowing he shouldn’t talk about Shukaku in public, otherwise Gaara would just answer.

“What a mad banquet of darkness.” Tokoyami murmured. **_(You bet I am going to be using this as much as posible. Thank you, buh bye.)_ **

**** Gaara scowled as he walked back into the building with a new set of villains.

This time he was being escorted by a nervous Midoriya, who wasn’t even worried about the exercise itself, a silent rock person, and the one tape guy that hangs around the angry one.

All Might shouted a reminder as they entered the building.

“Gaara, please do not remove the restraints yourself this time!” Gaara rolled his eyes.

“I get what you were saying, Gaara, about the escape thing. If someone can help themselves they should! You don’t want to stay trapped just waiting, but this is a fake simulation for practice in case they can’t get free. Like what if someone was drugged?” Midoriya quickly comforted, but Gaara just looked at him.

“Then why don’t they drug me?” Gaara asked.

“Uh, they can’t drug students…” Sero informed him, causing Gaara to shrug.

“Then get a teacher. Aizawa would be a perfect practice hostage. He would just nap. There’s your hostage.”

Midoriya blinked and opened his mouth before closing it.

“You have a point there.” Sero nodded.

Gaara was led to another room, although this was just an apartment and not a broom closet like before. 

“Sorry, but we got to tie you up. You heard the teach.” Sero said apologetically as he used his quirk to tape Gaara up and then tape him to a wall.

Gaara deadpanned and got out his sand as they left. Might as well do something productive with his time. 

**_~~~_ **

Gaara had successfully built a forest with a mountain range behind it, as well as multiple types of creatures by the time the heroes found him.

This time they came in quietly and Jiro sat by the door to listen for footsteps as it had been strangely silent.

The other two just came to stare at Gaara, trying to figure out what to do. Gaara looked like a bug trapped in a tape spider’s web.

Gaara scowled at his stalker and the invisible one as they stood on the remains of his mountain range and had stomped their way through his forest, killing countless amounts of trees and creatures. 

“I think if I freeze the tape, it will become brittle and we can just break it off.” Todoroki told Hagakure who gave him a thumbs up. 

This method worked for the tape that connected Gaara to the wall, but they could not remove the tape that bound his limbs together.

“Well it looks like you are not walking out of here!” Hagakure said, totally ok with the situation.

Gaara wanted to protest, he could definitely walk if he was allowed to use his quirk and get out of the bindings. He could also just float out of the building if All Might wouldn’t be so rude.

“Guess you’re going to have to carry him, Todoroki!” Hagakure gleefully clapped her gloves together.

Gaara glared at Todoroki as if daring him to try, but it was too late. Todoroki was already lifting him off the floor.

It was a miracle that Gaara resisted grumbling as he was princess carried out of the room and down the hallway. He didn’t want to be carried, he didn’t want to be touched. He also didn’t want to have tape restricting him but here he was.

Strangely his savior was not a hero, but rather a villain.

“Well hello, heroes!” A voice giggled from above them, familiar yet also not, “Why don’t you put our hostage down? Wouldn’t want him to get hurt… or worse, now would we?” 

“ _ Maybe villains are the real heroes.” _ Gaara thought as he was set down and surrounded in a protective barrier against the ‘villains’.

“ _ I mean- I have been kinda trying to get you to be one this entire time.” _ Shukaku sighed.

“ _ Nevermind, I suddenly remembered why I am not one.”  _


	76. Chapter 73 ~ Don’t Have Trauma If You Don’t Want the Cat Man to Get You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! We hope you enjoy this chapter, it gets a little angsty, so be safe y’all. Also! There are a lot of foreshadowing things hidden both in our writing and also in the AUs. ALSO in our other works as well, we like to interconnect certain things and world build. That is what we are good at XD just ask our (very underwritten) book with over 20 main characters! The world and the character backstories are so complex and intertwined… disregard the fact we have been avoiding it (because 20 main characters! A lot of the time in the same place! WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!) 
> 
> We have also gotten ideas from comments, but those won’t come till later and we’ll mention who inspired it!! Unless we were already planning on the thing that happens. But no spoilers hahahaha. NALA SUPREMACY (referencing Rise of the Phoenix)

The ‘villains’ won this time and Gaara busted out of his restraints as soon as the victory was called.

Midoriya happily trotted up to where Gaara was now laying on the floor and laid beside him.

“You know we have to go back now, right?” Midoriya asked and Gaara shrugged awkwardly.

“I am just going to end up being the hostage again, so I might as well stay,”

The other villains and heroes watched on in pure confusion while Todoroki took notes on how Midoriya was talking to Gaara.

“Well we have to go back, because at the very least our teacher will have something to say about the performance?” Izuku tried, “Um. I don’t have anything to bribe you with…”   
  


Gaara sighed and sat up. 

“Fine.” Midoriya perked up and both of the boys stood up and met the faces of their classmates.

“Midoriya.” Hagakure said, “You are really scary. I didn’t think you would be such an amazing, terrifying, but amazing villain.”

Jirio and Sero agreed with her while Midoriya just blushed.

“I-I just t-tried to act like I observed villains do! It wasn’t amazing and I am sorry that it was scary!” the three just shook their heads and together the group made their way back to the rest of the class.

**_~~~_ **

In an office in the UA school building, a cackling could be heard echoing off of the walls.

“Midoriya Izuku. Soon my plan will be put into action and you will be unable to refuse.”

**_~~~_ **

Gaara’s prediction was right. He was the hostage again. Then again. And again. 

They were lucky that he didn’t feel like making Shukaku happy, because he was not ok with this. 

Every single time the heroes trampled on his sandcastles. 

Gaara would be fine with being the hostage if the heroes were not idiots and walked all over his creations. He also got All Might to drop the whole restraints after Gaara broke out of them the third time but didn’t try to escape, pretending like he was still bound.

Midoriya sympathetically patted Gaara’s head every time that he came stalking back from the building.

When All Might announced that it was over, Gaara teleported to the locker room to quickly get changed and then walk back to the classroom scowling.

When the rest of the class came chattering in to grab their bags, Aizawa also slinked in.

“Um- everyone?” Midoriya called out desperately as Mina was about to leave, “I-I ah… I need, um…”

“Spit it out nerd!” Bakugo scowled and Midoriya flinched, causing Gaara to stand up.

“Midoriya needs your phone numbers for the group chat Aizawa-sensei asked him to create.” Tokoyami spoke up. Although he liked chaos, he didn’t want to deal with what Gaara would do after the day he had had.

Gaara nodded toward Tokoyami and went to stand near Midoriya, making sure that no one would bother him. 

Everyone cheerfully gave a very flustered Midoriya their cell phone numbers until it was Bakugo’s turn.

Bakugo scowled at Midoriya while Gaara watched him carefully.

“Come on Bakubro!” Kirishima nudged him causing Bakugo’s scowl to deepen but the boy recited his phone number.

Kirishima clapped him on the back, “Now was that so hard?” Bakugo mumbled incoherently, quieting down after catching sight of Aizawa, deciding to walk away, Kirishima hurrying after.

As Midoriya received the last phone number, he went to go and grab his bag to leave but Aizawa stopped him at the door. 

“We still have to talk, is it still alright to do it now?” Aizawa asked gently, after seeing the deer in the headlights look Izuku adopted when the teacher had come near him. 

Midoriya hesitantly nodded and awkwardly stood, not moving, waiting for instructions.

“Follow me.” Aizawa sighed, moving to walk out the door before turning back, “Gaara, you can either find Mic or stay here. Either way, don’t let Kankuro burn down anything. Other than the support labs of course, PowerLoader deserves some of my problem children.” Gaara gave a small nod, and disappeared into the closet where he knew Aizawa stored blankets.

As Aizawa led Midoriya down the hall, he thought back to the sports festival this year and remembered that one pink haired girl. Perhaps PowerLoader would share his pain this year.

Midoriya was becoming increasingly worried as he was led deeper and deeper in the school.

His panic peaked as Aizawa-sensei stopped in front of a closet door that looked worse for wear.

Was he going to be interrogated in a cold concrete cell? Was he going to die here? Wa-

“Why are you standing out in the hallway?” Aizawa grumbled, “Come in.”

Midoriya was shocked by what the open door revealed.

It was once a moderately sized janitor closet, but it looked like someone remodeled it into a cozy space.

The walls were base coated a bright pink, with other hand painted designs spread across the small room. Some were just small critters and some were large landscapes. 

The floors were covered in a checkered white and gray pattern with fluffy rugs with a circle chair in the far back right corner and two futons facing each other with a coffee table that had books underneath it. 

In the front left corner there was a table with a mini fridge under it. On top of the table there was a rack filled with chips and other types of snack food. 

In the right corner, there were two lounge chairs with weighted blankets and then a shelf next to it with even more blankets.

Aizawa sighed at the shocked look on Midoriya’s face.

“I was looking for a quiet place sometime in first year and fell asleep in this janitor closet. After repeatedly finding me in this spot, they took it on themselves to make it ‘acceptable for sleeping’. After that, it slowly grew into our hanging spot.” Aizawa’s eyes grew distant, “When I became a teacher we finally came back to this place and upgraded it. We now use it for whatever.” Aizawa’s gaze suddenly became sharp, “Whatever you do, don’t tell Midnight about this place. She has hounded us over the years as to where we disappear off to and we intend to keep it from her.”

“I-I won’t tell anyone sensei!” Midoriya stammered, and Aizawa facepalmed.

“First, you can just call me Aizawa, prob-” Midoriya flinched and Aizawa inwardly punched himself, “-kid, second, that wasn’t a threat. Why don’t we sit down, you choose the spot.”

Midoriya stood shocked for a second before rushing to sit in the closest lounge chair, Aizawa following at a relaxed pace to the chair adjacent to Midoriya.

“Now Midoriya. I need you to answer these questions honestly. You don’t have to answer if you feel too uncomfortable, but the ones you do have to be the truth. I want to teach and assist my students to my full capacity.”

Midoriya looked sceptical, but Aizawa couldn’t place the reason for it. Despite that, Midoriya nodded, not making eye contact. 

“First off. You said you were quirkless until the day of the entrance exam?” Aizawa asked and Midoriya nodded again.

“Could you explain that and how All Might of all people knew?”

“Um…” Midoriya thought about it. Technically it was mostly his secret now, and Aizawa seemed really trustworthy with quirk secrets. He knew Gaara’s and wasn’t telling everyone. Besides, Aizawa was his homeroom teacher after all.

“Well. I was born quirkless. My mom and I waited and waited, but it never came in, so she took me to see a quirk doctor. He said that because I have an extra joint I wouldn't ever have a quirk.” Aizawa patiently waited for the kid to continue, not asking the obvious, ‘well you have one now, so what happened?’.

**_< >< uh slight suicide warning here folks. It kinda just happened so. Go to the other fish if you wish to skip! <><_ **

  
  


Midoriya took a deep breath before continuing, “I had been having… um… a particularly rough day when it became worse when the sludge villain attacked me on the way to the bridg- on my way home.” Midoriya quickly tried to save his mistake, but it was too late, Aizawa looked up sharply.

“Go ahead and continue about your quirk. Remember, you don’t have to talk about anything you are uncomfortable with, however, we are going to have to get back to that eventually because I can’t let that go.” Midoriya didn’t answer but after a minute of silence he continued.

“I was on a different route and not really paying attention to my surroundings so the sludge villain was able to take over my body without any trouble. All Might came along to stop him, however.”

Aizawa’s brow furrowed. He had heard about Bakugo getting attacked by the sludge villain, but nothing about Midoriya or even any other kid.

“All Might had to go right away, but I was an idiot and got dragged along with him. I asked him if I could be a hero without a quirk, and he said no, leaving me alone on the roof.” Aizawa froze.

“Hold up kid. He told you. YOU. The most self sacrificing hero to be that you couldn’t be a hero and then left you on a ROOF!” Aizawa was shouting by the end of his sentence, and realized his mistake when he looked down to see Midoriya cowering in his chair.

“I am not angry at you, I promise. I am however, incredibly pissed off at one number one hero. You can continue kid, I won’t interrupt you again.” 

“It’s not All Might’s fault. He had things to do, but uh… I eventually heard explosions that sounded like Kacchan’s, causing me to almost fall off the roof. I ran to go check it out and uh… mayhaverushedintothebattleandhitthevillanwithabackpack.” Aizawa blinked.

“You hit a villain with a backpack?” he responded, surprisingly having followed all of that.

“Um… well all of the other heroes were waiting for someone more qualified and Kacchan was dying so I had to do something! The heroes yelled at me afterward, but at least they were moved to action and saved Kacchan!”

Aizawa’s face was set in a firm line. 

“Afterwards All Might found me and said I could be a hero and offered me his quirk.” Midoriya explained.

“I am going to need that explained.” Aizawa said slowly and Midoriya explained in great detail the training process and the quirk breakdown.

After Aizawa decided he understood as much as he was going to be able to in that second, he sat there contemplating.

“And your parents were ok with this?” Midoriya winced.

“Uh, well my dad isn’t around to give an opinion anymore and um…” Midoriya desperately searched for the right words, “My mom… is busy.” he said lamely.

“Busy.” Aizawa questioned, one eyebrow quirking up.

“Yeah, she has a lot of things to do, so like she isn’t home often, so I really haven’t had a chance to tell her what is going on or even talk to her in general, she hasn’t been home since like spring break in middle school, I don’t know what-”

“Kid.” Midoriya froze.

“Is your mother neglecting you?” Midoriya shook his head violently.

“No! I just don’t see her! She sends money occasionally! She is really busy, providing for us and also taking time for herself! She is-” Midoriya started to hyperventilate and Aizawa’s warning bells were beyond going off. 

**_< >< have a fish. Uh so yeah. Hidden trauma shows up for the first time, catching no one by surprise! <>< _ **

There were so many signs that he didn’t see before but he would have time to think about that later. Right now he had a panicking kid on his hands.


	77. Chapter 74 ~ Aizawa Deserves a Nap and Maybe an Award

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, hope you are all having great days. If this note is not well put together it is because I am exhausted, so hopefully Shinji can make it make sense XD. Surprisingly she has said nothing yet, so I haven’t failed that badly yet. Not sure if this will affect anything yet, but I start a college class next week and sports are also starting very soon. It is possible that nothing will change but just a warning. Enjoy! (Poor Aizawa)

“Ok kid, you don’t have to say anything else.” Aizawa said, as Midoriya was still trying to get out words.

Aizawa quickly went over to grab a weighted blanket and crouched down in front of Midoriya.

“Hey, can you try to breathe for me?” Midoriya shook his head and his breathing got worse.

Aizawa frowned, “Ok, can I sit next to you?” Midoriya nodded this time and Aizawa moved to sit next to him.

“My friends got into a lot of trouble when we were in school, and dragged me into it. Some of the stories it left me with are amusing. Do you want a blanket?” Midoriya nodded again, taking the blanket that Aizawa offered. 

“This one time my friend decided to sneak his sheep into school. He had heard that his parents wanted to have mutton that night, and he made a big deal of how the sheep was his brother. He thought that the sheep would be safer in the school building away from his parents. He got the sheep into school no problem, but it was what to do after that was the problem. Hey, wanna try and point at some things you see?” Midoriya’s breathing had slowed down, but Aizawa wasn’t sure if talking would make it worse again.

Midoriya pointed at Aizawa, the shelf with all of the blankets, and also the carpet. Aizawa nodded in satisfaction.

“So, before he could hide the sheep, a teacher saw and he decided to claim that the sheep was a new student. Hizashi immediately backed him up and we were escorted to class. Our homeroom teacher believed him, because coincidently, a transfer student was supposed to join our class soon. We had to go the entire day pretending that this sheep was our classmate. Can you tell me about the things you can touch?”

Midoriya breathed in shakily, “The b-blanket y-you g-gave me is s-soft. My h-hair is in m-my face. The c-chair is s-squishy.” 

“Great job. Of course we were found out when the actual transfer student came in late after lunch. We ended up in detention and it turns out that my friend’s parents were not talking about eating the sheep at all, nor were they talking about mutton. They were talking about muffins that his father had just baked. So now we had detention, and I didn’t even do anything. I just got in trouble by association.” Midoriya exhaled in a way that sounded like he was hiding a laugh. 

“Are you back with me kid?” Aizawa asked and Midoriya nodded yet again, “Alright, I think that was enough for today, do you agree?”

“Y-yeah.” Midoriya nodded.

“What would you say about having a sleepover at our house tonight?” Aizawa suggested, and sighed when Midoriya looked conflicted.

“You would not be bothering anyone and I know Gaara would enjoy your company.” Aizawa tried.

“B-but I d-don’t h-have anything.” Midoriya protested and Aizawa rolled his eyes.

“Not a problem at all, Yamada went on a shopping spree when the- our kids moved in. Pretty sure we could clothe half the school. Something is bound to somewhat fit and we have anything else you could need, but if not, we could always run to the store.”

“O-ok. As long as e-everyone else is okay with it.” Aizawa stood up and Midoriya quickly followed as Aizawa opened the door to the closet. 

“I think that you could do pretty much anything and Hizashi, Temari, and Kankuro would call you adorable and service your every need. They already do it to Gaara.” Aizawa huffed.

Midoriya blushed and shook his hands out in front of him as well as his head.

“No, I am sure that isn’t true, I mean, the Gaara part is, but I am not anything special!” 

“Whatever you say, kid,” Aizawa sighed.

They walked back to the 1-A classroom to find Gaara lying on the floor, sand sculptures surrounding him. 

Midoriya stopped Aizawa from walking into the room and spoke softly, “Gaara?” The boy on the floor opened one eye, sitting up when he saw the pair in the doorway. 

The sculptures in front of them parted like the red sea and opened up a path to the front of the classroom that was free of sculptures.

“Where are they?” Aizawa asked, fearing the worst.

Gaara shrugged, “Don’t know.” He looked at Midoriya and frowned, “It’s late. You live a long way away.” Midoriya grew nervous.

“I-I um… Aizaw- um…”

“Midoriya is going to stay the night,” Aizawa informed Gaara, who looked at him in confusion.

“Why are you going to stay at the school?” Gaara turned towards Aizawa, “Why didn’t you force him to come to our house, I don’t think Yamada would be happy with you.”

Aizawa took a deep, calming breath.

“I meant he was staying the night, with us, at our house.” Gaara’s face perked up slightly.

“Shukaku says that it’s called a sleepover and it is a thing friends do and the friends do fun things together. Can we do stuff like that, would that be ok?” Midoriya also seemed to be hopeful.

“You two can do whatever you want. However.” Aizawa paused, “No setting things on fire, you two are banned from quirk experiments on the property, and… you have to get s-” Aizawa paused again, “Midoriya at least has to get sleep, Gaara you should as well, it is a school night.” The two boys nodded.

“Also, how did Shukaku know what a sleepover was and you didn’t?” Aizawa asked and Gaara shrugged.

“Shukaku knows a lot of things.” Aizawa looked at the boy but decided to give up. He didn’t have the energy to deal with anything like that today.

“Fine. We need to find your siblings and my hyperactive husband. I want to sleep in my bed, maybe I can convince one of my traitor cats to come nap with me.” Aizawa said mournfully.

Gaara sighed, and used the sand to make a base for him to sit on and floated out of the room. Aizawa and Midoriya moved out of the way to let him pass, with puzzled faces.

Midoriya yelped in surprise when sand appeared under him as well, forcing him to sit on the seemingly solid sand, and took him to float next to Gaara.

“Wh-” Midoriya started to ask but Gaara cut him off when he threw a sand ball at him. Midoriya was lucky he had trained reflexes, because if he hadn’t caught it, the sand would have hit him in the face.

Midoriya wasn’t sure what was keeping the sand ball together, or what would happen if it hit a solid object, but Midoirya didn’t want to find out by allowing it to collide with his face.

Midoriya looked at Gaara confused, but saw the boy with his hands out expectantly.

Midoriya threw the ball back to Gaara hesitantly, and the boy caught it. Midoriya was confused as to why they were playing catch as they were floating down the hallway, and slightly embarrassed, but it was strangely fun.

“I think we should check the support labs, I am afraid of what we will find there but I think that is the most likely place we will find them.” Aizawa said as if he was signing his death warrant.

Gaara sighed and the ball disappeared in mid arc.

Midoriya blinked, “Gaara?”

“Sorry, Shukaku suggested throwing a ball back and forth, but now he is making fun of us for it.” Gaara stated haughtily and Midoriya let out a little giggle.

“Alrighty!” Midoriya laughed.

Aizawa let out a small smile. He was happy to see Midoriya happy when he had been so upset earlier. He was glad that Gaara and this problem child had become friends-

Wait.

Gaara has trauma and now Aizawa has found out about Midoriya’s home life, or lack of one, and now two of his problem children are going to form a powerful bond, causing him insurmountable amounts of agony and worry. 

They may be worse than Hizashi and Oboro.

Suddenly Aizawa’s good feelings soured.

At least Hizashi would have to deal with the chaos as well. Well, as long as Hizashi wasn’t also involved in the chaos.

**_~~~_ **

Hizashi was involved in the chaos.

When they entered the Support Labs Hizashi was flying around the room in what looked like rocket boots that went out of control. 

Kankuro and a student Aizawa recognized as Greg, were chasing after his idiot husband while Temari stood helplessly watching Benny and the pink haired girl from the sports festival messing with some sort of device.

“There!” The pink one called out joyfully, “The baby should be operational now!” The girl handed Greg the gunish looking thing and fired before Aizawa could even get a word out.

The object the device sent out collided with his husband and expanded. It was a net.

The net trapped Hizashi and the boots, sending him on a path downward into the waiting arms of Kankuro and Greg.

The two students grabbed hold of Hizashi and Greg quickly disabled the boots.

“WHOA LISTENERS, THAT’S A CRazy piece of tech you got there!” Hizashi’s quirk stopped in the middle of his sentence and everyone in the room stopped and looked over to see the three in the doorway. 

“YOU!” Mei cheered chaotically, “I have been hoping to talk to you One Million!” 

“Oh no. Not today. I cannot deal with anymore chaos today, so you can talk to him another time. Get his number if you want to talk so bad.” Aizawa was done, he really needed a nap now, “Hizashi.”

“Heyyy babeeee…” Yamada smiled nervously with awkward finger guns, “What’s up?”

Benny looked between the two of them and held out his hand towards Greg, smiling. Greg sighed and shoved his twin’s hand away.

“Yeah, yeah, you were right. I’ll get you whatever you want later.” Greg sighed, defeated.

Aizawa decided to ignore the fact the twins had a bet and continued to stare down his husband who broke under his gaze and also sighed in defeat.

“Hatsume kindly asked if I would test her new prototype of her new rocket boots and I just couldn't refuse. Turns out they had a little flaw in the controls and went… haywire.”

“One failed test! I will have them fixed and ready to go again in a jiffy!” Mei gave a thumbs up and took the boots off, disappearing supposedly to her station to work on them.

“Whatever. Let’s just go home.” Aizawa grunted and sent Hizashi a look that said later when he glanced at Midoriya. 


	78. Chapter 75 ~ Can We Skip To the Pillow Fights?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just a thank you for sticking with us this far, we really hope you are loving this as much as we are. If you feel like it, hop on to our discord and say hi! https://discord.gg/3K4s92ZZJM

Yamada knew that something was horribly wrong when his husband was uncharacteristically quiet on the way home. 

Yamada made small talk with the kids while also watching Shota out of the corner of his eye.

Neither of the twins seemed to be asking Midoriya any questions he couldn’t answer with a nod or a shake of his head and Yamada wondered if they could see or knew something he didn’t.

Yamada decided it was best to follow their lead, the twins knew more about stuff like this than him anyways. 

When they were nearing their house Aizawa suddenly said his first words.

“Temari, Kankuro? What would you say about going over to one of your friend’s houses tonight? I am sure Gaara and Midoriya don’t want you two smothering them.” Temari blinked.

“We can certainly ask, it would be fun! Haven’t had a sleepover in a very long time.” Temari smiled, looking at Kankuro and Yamada could tell a silent conversation was exchanged, but he could not discern what it was about.

**_High Five_ **

1#Fan [4:32 pm]: Hey guys, we need a favor

MurderCatWithAMustache [4:32 pm]: Well… it could be a win win….

AShipper [4:32 pm]: Shoot

1#Fan [4:33 pm]: our dadzawa is bringing home a kid (not saying who) and he asked if we would like to stay at a friend’s house. We think they need to talk about something serious, and for them to be comfortable, we need to be out of the house.

It’same,Mirio! [4:34 pm]: Aw :( I hope the kid is ok. You guys are always welcome at my house! SLEEPOVERRRR

AShipper [4:34 pm]: SLEEPOVER

MurderCatWithAMustache [4:35 pm]: Thanks guys 

It’same,Mirio! [4:35 pm]: Of course!! Tamaki is here too! A squad sleepover! 

AShipper [4:36 pm]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

It’same,Mirio! [4:36 pm]: …

It’same,Mirio! [4:37 pm]: Temari, Kankuro… do you guys need a ride? Nemari, even if you need one, you can walk. You broke Tamaki.

AShipper [4:37 pm]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

1#Fan [4:37 pm]: Nope, we are good. See you guys soon.

“We are all good to go!” Temari informed Aizawa as they pulled into the driveway.

“Great. You guys can get your stuff and I’ll take you over there.” Aizawa gave them a small smile as he got out of the car. 

“Let’s make sure we have everything for you to comfortably stay here, if not I can go to the store on the way back.” Aizawa directed Midoriya, motioning him to go inside with Gaara trailing after. 

Temari and Kankuro met in the hallway with a bag each. They shot broad grins at each other and headed down the stairs. 

Kankuro met Gaara in the living room, the boy was sitting with Midoriya on the couch while a hero documentary played. 

“Uh, Gaara?” the boy turned to look at him with an irritated expression.

Gaara knew that his friend was upset about something. He needed attention. That’s what his siblings always gave him when they thought he was upset.

“Can you perhaps water Spikeasaurus Rex for me? Just for the night? Please?” Kankuro begged Gaara who sighed. If he agreed then Kankuro would leave him alone.

So Gaara gave him a small nod thinking that it would be over. 

“OH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I SHALL FOREV-” Kankuro’s praise was cut off by Gaara, using his sand to pick up Kankuro and his bag, placing him outside. 

“Bye Gaara, Midoriya, you two have fun now!” Temari gave a wave and walked out of the house to where Aizawa was waiting in the car.

**_~~~_ **

Temari and Kankuro sat in the car awkwardly. Wanting to ask questions about Midoriya, but also not wanting to be intrusive.

“So, did you have everything Midoriya needs for the night?” Kankuro asked slowly. Aizawa sighed.

“Yes.”

“Cool.” Kankuro said lamley, looking at Temari helplessly.

“Is Midoriya going to stay more than one night?” Temari asked quietly and Aizawa’s face grew more tired.

“I don’t know yet. Is that ok with you two, I don’t wan-” 

“Of course! If he needs to stay he will stay. That kid is a bleeding heart. Not to mention he is adorable. You won’t hear any objections from us, the opposite actually. No one better have hurt that kid, I may risk jail time.” Temari said cracking her knuckles.

“I got the supplies we will need, just point me to the body,” Kankuro supplied, and Aizawa sighed.

“I may not be against it, however, it isn’t the best option for any of the innocent parties involved.” This alerted Kankuro and Temari that there was in fact, someone that needed to be punished.

“Alright. Just let us know if he would be upset if we gave him a hug the next time we saw him. We don’t want to make him feel worse,” Temari requested and Aizawa nodded.

“Will do.”

**_~~~_ **

“Hey squad!” Mirio cheered, “Do you need help with bags or anything?”

“Nope!” Kankuro smiled, “We are all good here!”

“Why don’t you go back home, just remember to text us,” Temari told a hesitating Aizawa.

“If you are sure,” Aizawa narrowed his eyes.

“Yup! Stop worrying Dadzawa! We are all good!” Kankuro shot him a bright smile that mimicked Mirio’s and Aizawa gave a curt nod and got back in the car.

“Ready to head in? You two beat Nejire here,” Mirio informed them, Tamaki shyly meeting them at the door.

“Ha!” Kankuro cheered, “Ow!!” he rubbed his side where Temari had jabbed him.

Mirio led them to the living room, sitting down on one of two couches, Tamaki hurriedly sitting down beside him.

“So. Long time no see, am I right?” Temari raised an eyebrow and Mirio laughed.

“Nejire is here,” Tamaki murmured, yawning. 

“I can get the door!” Kankuro offered and Mirio gave him a thumbs up.

Once Nejire had joined them, Mirio’s dad popped into the room.

“So. What were you two doing when we were texting, huh?” Nejire wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, causing Tamaki to let out a high pitched sound of distress and shove his face into Mirio.

“Tamaki fell asleep. We were supposed to be working on the project that is due next week, but Tamaki fell asleep as soon as I got out the materials.”

“Uh, huh. Sureeee,” Nejire nodded.

“What do you have to say about this Mr. Togata?” Temari asked, not even bothering to look at the man peeking into the room behind her.

“First, you kids can call me Yoshi, second, I have no idea, the door was closed,” Yoshito shrugged and all three pairs of eyes shot to the couple.

“What? The door is always closed,” Mirio cocked his head to the side confused.

“Mirio, you are really oblivious sometimes,” Tamaki’s voice somehow came through, although very muffled.

“Huh?” 

“That is true, they always close the door,” Yoshi said.

“Oh? Even when you thought they were dating?” Nejire blinked.

“OH!” Mirio shouted, suddenly realizing what they were talking about and turning bright red, “It’s not like that!” 

Yoshi ignored his son and responded to Nejire, “Well,” he started, turning his attention to his beet red son and his equally mortified boyfriend, “I always, and still do, trust you boys to be safe! I remember being a teen and in love, and I would rather you have a safe place to-” 

“OK DAD, WE ARE GOING TO MOVE ON NOW!” Mirio interrupted, and Tamaki shot up to run upstairs.

“You kno-” Nejire started, before Mirio interrupted her.

“Nope. It is not like that and we are certainly not talking about the subject.” Mirio stated, finality in his tone.

“I’m going to go check on Tamaki, why don’t you three pick a movie or something, if that is ok?” Temari suggested and Mirio opened his mouth to protest.

“No, if he sees you he may spontaneously combust,” Temari told him and Mirio promptly shut it.

Temari headed upstairs and knocked on the only closed door.

“Tamaki?” Temari called out softly, “You in there?”

The door opened to reveal a tentacle retreating back to the boy that was face down on his bed.

“Hey, you know they were just teasing right?” A muffled noise was the response.

Temari came over to the bed, “Can I join you?” Tamaki rolled over and Temari frowned at the tear tracks on his face. She sat down next to him, bringing her legs to sit criss-cross.

“What’s going on Tamaki?”

“It’s stupid,” the boy mumbled, dragging a blanket over his face.

“Nothing’s stupid, you can tell me anything you want, ok? I will listen to you.” Tamaki peeked up at her.

“Ok.” Tamaki said in a small voice.

Temari waited until Tamaki began to speak.

“I can’t kiss Mirio,” Tamaki cried, becoming increasingly more muffled as he pressed the blanket closer to his face.

“What do you mean, Tamaki? You don’t have to kiss him if you don’t want to,” Tamaki groaned.

“But I DO want to. But. It’s just so embarrassing. I keep panicking and pulling away anytime he tries to initiate anything, I don’t know what to do!” Temari let out a sigh of relief, this was something that she could easily provide advice for. 

“Have you talked to him about it?” Temari asked and the lump shook his head.

“You need to tell him about how you feel, Tamaki. He is probably confused, and you talking to him will let you guys figure it out. Besides, you guys are really close. There is no reason to worry, ok?” Tamaki peeked out from under the blanket again.

“But how do I talk to him?” Tamaki mourned and Temari sighed. 

“Give me a second.” Temari stood up and ran to the door.

“Wait- NO!” Tamaki shouted after her, but it was too late. Tamaki collapsed on the bed, giving in to his fate.

“What’s going on, I-” Mirio was shoved into his room and Tamaki further buried himself in the blankets.

“Tamaki needs to talk to you about your relationship. End his suffering please.” Temari slammed the door behind her leaving a baffled Mirio.

Tamaki pushed himself against the wall and turned away from Mirio.

Mirio hesitantly came forward and sat on the edge of his bed.

“Tamaki? You can tell me anything, you know that. Whatever you need, ok? Even if you need more time to think about it, although I would rather us talk now so you can stop suffering.” Tamaki moved his head to peek back at Mirio. 

“It’s stupid,” Tamaki mumbled, turning back to face the wall and Mirio gave a small smile.

“Nothing you think or feel is stupid,” Mirio told him and Tamaki turned back around.

“If you say so,” Tamaki muttered, “It’s embarrassing.” Mirio laughed.

“I can do embarrassing, do you know who I am?” Tamaki snorted and Mirio gave himself a high five in his mind.

“I can’t kiss you,” Tamaki mumbled and Mirio’s smile faltered.

“That’s alright Tamaki, I am glad you told me. Do you just not want that part of our relationship or want to go back to being friends?” Tamaki bolted up.

“No!” Tamaki denied and Mirio turned towards him, confused and worried, “I-” Tamaki glared at the bed furiously, “It’s not like that. I just…” Tamaki took a deep breath, “It’s embarrassing, I don’t know what to do!”

Mirio was relieved, “You did pretty well that first time.” Tamaki’s face flushed.

“That was different, you were being stupid,” Tamaki muttered and Mirio laughed.

“Is that why you haven’t let me kiss you, because you are embarrassed?” Tamaki went back to burying his face into the blankets and a muffled ‘yes’ could be heard.

“Oh Maki. There is no need to be embarrassed or worried about that. I love you, and we can do whatever you are comfortable with.” The blankets let out an embarrassed whine and Mirio’s expression grew thoughtful. 

“Would it help if you initiated everything?” The blanket shook their head, “Alright then, we will just have to go slow!” Mirio declared, “Tamaki?” Tamaki’s head became visible again, “Can I kiss you?” Tamaki nodded and Mirio leaned down and kissed Tamaki’s forehead. 

“Want to go rejoin the others now?” Tamaki nodded and removed himself from the bed only to be surprised by a sudden kiss from Mirio. 

A muffled squeak escaped Tamaki’s lips and Mirio pulled back, smiling triumphantly.

“I thought you said slow?” Tamaki asked, face flushed.

“Exposure therapy,” Mirio declared triumphantly, before looking at Tamaki worriedly, “Are you upset?” Tamaki shook his head, burying his head into Mirio’s chest.

“Maybe it will work,” Tamaki said shly, and Mirio smiled only to kiss him again.

“Just remember if you ever need to talk about something, you can tell me.” Mirio told Tamaki, who just hugged him in response.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara watched Aizawa and Yamada move around the house with an eagle eye.

He knew there was something serious going on and it had to do with Midoriya, obviously, however, his point was he needed to make sure that Midoriya stays safe.

Gaara didn’t think that Midoriya was in trouble, Aizawa and Yamada were acting more concerned but there was an underlying anger radiating off of Aizawa, and that was keeping Gaara’s guard up.

Midoriya seemed oblivious to Gaara’s mission, fully engrossed in what was on the tv, even if he seemed even more anxious than normal.

Midoriya was so hyper focused on the tv that he did not notice Aizawa squat down in front of Gaara.

“Hey kid,” Aizawa began softly.

Despite his quiet tone Midoryia still jumped, “Y-yeah?”

“Would it be ok if I told Yamada what you told me earlier or would you just like to continue our conversation alone. You could also be there and make sure I don’t say anything you are uncomfortable with Yamada knowing.” Midoriya froze, “I know that you probably don’t want to talk, but you are going to need to. There is no way that I will let you continue to suffer.” Midoriya stared at the floor.

“C-can I be there w-when you tell him?” Midoriya asked in a small voice and Gaara took this as his cue to leave.

“Wait!” Midoriya’s panicked voice rushed out, “W-would you s-stay? I-I would f-feel better I t-think.” Gaara nodded and came back, sitting closer to Midoriya protectively. 

“You sure you're ok with me being in here, little listener? It can just be you and Shota, don’t feel like you have to do anything, ok?” Yamada glanced worriedly down at the green haired boy, who had returned to looking at the ground.

“I- I’m sure.” Midoriya said, “Um. Can I ask a question before we start?” 

“Of course.” Aizawa informed him, “Anything you want, ok?”

“Will I have to talk to the police?” Midoriya whispered and Yamada frowned.

“Unfortunately yes, and if you just want to talk to them and not anyone else that is also fine. However, you do have to tell someone, kid.” Midoriya flinched.

“No,” Midoriya said softly, “I-I would rather talk to you guys first, I think.”

“Ok, would you like me to get Hizashi caught up?” Midoriya nodded, “If you want me to stop at any time you can either say so or you can tap your leg twice,” Aizawa told him, and Yamada smiled.

“I mean you could also like, tell Gaara and I am sure that he would love to throw Sho with his sand,” Yamada joked and Midoriya gave a small smile, which Yamada counted as a victory.

Aizawa recounted to Yamada what Midoriya told him earlier that day, making sure to watch the boy closely for any signs that he needed to stop. 

Gaara’s expression grew darker and darker as Aizawa spoke; sand started to move subtly around the room, as if not to disturb Midoriya. 

Aizawa left out the part of the quirk Midoriya told him about, just saying that his quirk manifested the day of the entrance exam but also not leaving out the animosity he was harboring for a certain limelight hero. 

Yamada kept his face schooled in a fine line, trying not to show any emotion that would upset the little listener, while also wanting to fight people and hug the kid at the same time. 

Midoriya had gotten closer to Gaara on the couch as Aizawa spoke and was really grateful that Aizawa didn’t mention One for All. He had honestly forgotten that he told the teacher, and had almost spoken up when he realized that the man was not mentioning it. 

“Ok kid,” Aizawa finished, “We can either keep talking like this afternoon or you can wait till you have to talk later, but we do have to cover a few things.”

“Or we could ask stuff and you could only answer if you feel like it, a pick and choose type deal,” Yamada offered and then pursed his lips nervously, “Can I hug you little listener?”

“S-sure… and w-we can do that, the p-pick and choose thing.” Midoirya wrung his hands anxiously.

Yamada got up slowly and hugged Midoriya tightly, then went back to sit down. 

“What would you like to be called, kid? What would make you more comfortable?” Aizawa asked.

“M-midoriya is fine, or Izuku.”

“Ok Izuku, how long has your mother been ‘busy’ as you call it?” Aizawa asked carefully.

Izuku flinched, “Um. She has been working a lot since my first year of middle school, she doesn’t really have time to come home since her work is far away.” Yamada sucked in a breath.

“Izuku. You do understand that what your mother is doing isn’t right, right?” Aizawa inquired and Izuku’s fidgeting increased.

“I-” Izuku started to cry silently and Gaara glared daggers at Aizawa, who moved back, surprised at the level of intensity in the boy’s gaze.

“I-It’s my fault for being quirkless, I-” Midoriya’s words turned into full on sobs.

Gaara tapped Izuku’s arm and the boy turned to face him when he could control his sobbing.

“Not your fault. You are amazing and my friend. She is mean.” Gaara said flatly and Midoriya lurched forward to hug the other boy who sighed and accepted the hug.

“Yeah little listener, I promise it isn’t your fault. You are an amazing person and anyone would be lucky to have you as their kid. Your mother doesn’t deserve you.” Yamada agreed vehemently.

Midoriya was about to protest when a sharp glare from both Gaara and Aizawa cut him off.

“Next thing, would you be ok with staying here for awhile, I understand if you are uncomfortable we can work something else out, but you are not going to be staying at your house alone.”

“A-are you sure that staying here would be ok? I-I don’t want to intrude, especially when y-you guys have really important things coming up.” Aizawa scoffed.

“Of course it is ok. It is more than ok. In fact, I would really rather have you here where I can watch you, you are a problem child after all.” Aizawa smiled at Izuku, letting him know that wasn’t a bad thing.

“You can stay here as long as you want, ok?” Yamada assured him, “We just wouldn’t want to force you to stay somewhere you weren’t comfortable with.”

Gaara nodded, “If you want to, it will be fun.” 

“If you guys are sure, then that would be cool.” Izuku said softly, looking hopeful.

“Yes, we are sure. Although you will have to share a room with Gaara if that is alright with the both of you, and we can go to your place to get things you will need.” Izuku and Gaara looked at each other and nodded, both excited at the prospect.

“I think that is enough for now! How bout we have some ice cream! And popcorn! Then watch a movie!!!” Yamada cheered, clapping his hands together.

Both boys nodded enthusiastically, and a nearby cat let out a ‘Murph?’ hearing the words ice cream.

Aizawa thought back to earlier that day. Maybe having two of his problem children share a room in a house of insanely hyperactive crazy people wasn’t a good idea. 

But, if it made the two kids happy, who was he to take that away. 

Aizawa smiled and followed the three into the kitchen.


	79. Chapter 76 ~ Late Night Killer for Hire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Hope you like the chapter! Thank you all for everything!! Feel free to come say hi! https://discord.gg/3K4s92ZZJM

Yamada had ushered the two boys off to bed later than he should have. It was beginning to look like he was running a house for insomniacs. 

Izuku had protested about ‘bothering’ Gaara by sleeping in his room, but Gaara didn’t have any of it. Gaara picked him up with his sand and carried him the rest of the way to his room. 

Izuku sat nervously on the futon that Yamada had brought up as Gaara stared at him expectantly.

“Aren't you going to sleep?” Gaara asked, tilting his head.

“Uh, I don’t know if I can sleep with um… you staring at me?” Izuku explained, nervously.

Shukaku laughed as Gaara blinked.

“Oh. Sorry,” Gaara said, picking up Floof, “Have a cat. They are very warm.” Izuku carefully took the tiny cat that Gaara offered.

“Thank you,” Izuku blushed and Gaara nodded, before turning away from Izuku and laying on his back. “Are you going to sleep?” Gaara blinked and immediately relaxed.

“Gaara?” Izuku stood up and moved over to Gaara, panicked, “Gaara? Are you ok?” The boy still didn’t respond, “You know what just hold on I am going to go get Aizawa or Y-yama-” Gaara suddenly sat up.

“Yo, green bush.” Gaara greeted.

“Um…” Izuku’s face contorted into confusion before coming to realization, “Oh! Hello Shukaku!”

“You asked if Gaara would sleep, and I thought it would be really awkward if he just watched your sleeping body all night. So. I kind of pulled some strings and now he is sleeping! But don’t worry, I will soon vacate the premises so his body can sleep as well. Just thought I would make sure you didn’t panic.” Not-Gaara looked at him pointedly, “You seem to excel at that.” 

Izuku looked away blushing and Not-Gaara crossed his legs.

“Oh. One more thing before I leave and you two get your beauty rest. If you want to subtly put in a request to kill anyone COUGH COUGH, perhaps a parental donner and a pro hero that is high on the rankings, I got you. Gaara and I know a guy, and with enough convincing I am sure he would get rid of that pesky parental problem. He did it for Gaara, so maybe it is his thing … but I would have to take care of the other on my own. Did some research and he seems to have an awfully strange crush on a certain number one. So, just let me know and I can make myself available!” Shukaku shot Izuku finger guns, which was really weird and uncomfortable to see the usually non-expressive boy do. Not-Gaara plopped back down on the bed and his body went still once again.

Izuku sat there staring at Gaara for a while before sighing and pulling the blanket Aizawa had given him over his shoulders and going to sleep.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara woke up. 

Billions of people started their day like this, but it was extremely bizarre for him, and had only happened a couple of times.

It was kind of a nice feeling. He felt strangely energetic for once, maybe he should sleep more often. 

_ “I bet you wouldn’t have slept if I hadn’t forced you and you would have been labeled as a creep, just like that weirdo that stalks you.”  _ Shukaku smirked, and just like that Gaara’s morning was ruined.

“ _ I am not creepy,”  _ Gaara scowled, “ _ But thank you, I guess.”  _ Shukaku gave him a thumbs up that turned into a smiley face like the ones in the history textbook that people used to make out of potatoes. 

Gaara snorted and looked over to see Izuku waking up.

“Good morning…” Gaara trailed off, “What do you want to be called?” 

“What?” Izuku slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes and processed Gaara’s question, “Oh. Um, Izuku is fine! If that is ok with you, of course!” Gaara rolled his eyes.

“Well, if you want coffee, Izuku, we have to go and get it before someone else drinks it,” Izuku was flustered but also perked up at the mention of coffee.

The two of them head downstairs to find Aizawa passed out on the floor of the kitchen. 

“Does this happen a lot?” Izuku asked, hesitant to move any further and wake up the sleeping pro.

Gaara shrugged.

“I think he had patrol last night, but he has fallen asleep while making coffee before,” Izuku blinked. 

“Let him sleep little listeners, he needs it,” Yamada softly spoke from behind Izuku and the boy jumped.

“Y-yeah, I wasn’t planning on it,” Izuku spoke nervously while Gaara floated back over Aizawa with three cups of coffee. 

“Thanks Gaara! We should head into the living room since the kitchen is occupied,” Yamada laughed quietly, ushering the two boys out of the room.

“So, uh, listener?” Yamada asked slowly, as if he was unsure of himself. 

Gaara nudged Izuku and the boy snapped his head up and looked at Yamada, “We can always get you new things, but uh, I was wondering if you wanted anything from your place, you know, anything that you want.” Izuku’s face turned expressionless and Yamada winced.

“D-do I h-have to g-go a-alone?” Izuku quivered and Yamada shot up and stood in front of Izuku, his arms offering a hug which Izuku hesitantly accepted.

“Of course not, Izuku. Whoever you want to go with you will go.” Izuku sniffed.

“T-thank you.” Izuku whispered, “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” This time Yamada started to cry and the man hugged the boy tighter. 

“You are not alone anymore, Izuku. You have us now.” Gaara slowly approached and patted Izuku’s hair.

They stayed like that for a while before Yamada pulled back.

“Well, I guess it is time to wake up the dead body in the kitchen.” Izuku let out a giggle and the two friends sat on the couch drinking coffee until it was time to go.

**_~~~_ **

The school day was normal despite the fact that Izuku felt really strange.

For the first time in years, he wasn’t going to be going home to an empty apartment. 

None of the teachers were calling him Midoriya. Aizawa or Yamada must have told them to call him by his hero name. 

It felt weird, but not in a bad way. He did feel guilty, it wasn’t that his mother was mean to him or anything, what if he is just overreacting?

However, his heart was telling him that he wasn’t.

As he led Aizawa and Yamada into his apartment, Gaara trailing behind, the strange feeling grew even stronger.

As Aizawa had driven to the apartment complex, he began to steel himself for what awaited in the problem child’s apartment. He knew that there wouldn’t be much in it, but the reality of seeing it for himself brought waves of sadness. 

There were a few family pictures from when Izuku was a baby, but none with him older than that. The apartment lacked the feeling of being lived in. and was more like a shell of what could have been.

Izuku passed the main room, starting down a hallway, before hesitantly rushing back to pick up one of the framed photographs.

Izuku looked at the two adults as if seeking permission to take it.

“Grab whatever you want kid,” Aizawa smiled softly and Yamada laughed.

“Well, maybe not the sink.” Yamada snorted and Izuku shot him a small smile before putting the photograph into the floating box.

Izuku quickly moved on and headed towards what Aizawa assumed to be his bedroom and was quickly proved correct.

Aizawa was glad to see that the problem child’s room looked a bit more lived in than the rest of the house.

It was mostly due to the dozens and dozens of notebooks meticulously organized around the room.

“This is a lot of notebooks, kid.” Aizawa commented and Izuku blushed.

“Yeah, I kinda have been obsessed with quirks for a really long time… and happen to have a lot of time to write about them.” Izuku rubbed his head, “But don’t worry! Most of them are coded and all of them are not very good, so it’s not dangerous or anything!”

Aizawa grabbed one and tilted his head as if asking permission and opened it when Izuku nodded.

Izuku continued to work and Yamada tried to help, not that there was much there besides the notebooks.

Aizawa whistled as the three finished up.

“Damn kid, these are amazing. When did you write this?” Izuku blushed before looking at the cover.

“That was one from my last year before middle school.” Aizawa was shocked.

“If this was before middle school, what you write now must be amazing. Don’t sell yourself short kid.” Izuku blushed, “We may need to have these put somewhere if you aren’t going to take them with us. Also. Do not, for my own sanity and the sake of the world, let Nedzu see these things. If you do, warn me so I can leave the country and go into hiding.” 

“Ok…?” Izuku furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged as they headed back out to the car where the twins were waiting, Izuku’s face forming into a soft smile as the family chattered.

Izuku really hoped they would let him stay for a while.


	80. Chapter 77 ~ Guys!  Killing People is Not a Solution!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I would like to say that we wrote 3379 words in one night… which is a considerable amount when you were already exhausted XDDDD For those who don’t read Rise of the Phoenix, we have been having a rough time with our lives at the moment, and finding both the will and time to write has been really hard for us. So we are really sorry this is so late. But yeah! I won’t write another like four hundred words about that like I did with RotP… don’t know why I did that. We love writing and you guys are amazing. Thank you all so much. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do! https://discord.gg/y6BVP4buBH

Gaara took over the task of taking all of Izuku’s things inside the house, even when the boy protested.

“Yo,” Kankuro said as he poked his head into Gaara’s room, “I heard you were pretty smart…” Kankuro raised his eyebrows suggestively, “wanna help me with my homework?” Izuku’s eyes brightened.

Izuku felt happy that he could do something since he was invading the family’s home, however, before he could answer, an angry Temari appeared next to Kankuro.

“No. You are not using Izuku to do your homework.” She scolded Kankuro, turning to Izuku, she apologized, “Sorry Izuku, Kankuro keeps trying to siphon work out of Gaara, and now it seems he has moved to you,” Temari scowled at Kankuro.

“Hey!” Kankuro put his hands up innocently, “It is not my fault I now have two genius brothers!” Izuku looked at him shocked.

“B-brother?” Izuku stammered, confused.

“Yup! I have adopted you as a sibling, whether you like it or not. You are short and adorable, you fit right in! Plus, it sounds like you need some sort of big brother figure to keep you out of trouble!” Kankuro announced and Temari looked at him as if he were insane.

Izuku just stood there blushing, he didn’t quite understand why this family was being so kind and welcoming to him, but it felt really good, in a way Izuku had never felt before.

“Excuse you?” Temari questioned and Izuku’s heart sank, “You being any type of responsible person is completely out of the question. You are more likely to get the poor boy into more trouble! I am the responsible one here! Also! I am NOT short or adorable!” Temari raged, “Izuku. Please listen to me as your RESPONSIBLE older sister. Do not. Under ANY circumstances, do ANYTHING this loaf suggests.” 

The warm feeling returned, stronger than it was before. Temari wasn’t mad at him, at least she wasn’t voicing it, she even said she was his older sister! 

Izuku was happy but he was also freaking out. He really didn’t want to intrude. What is Gaara thinking? Was he mad? Was Izuku going to lose his friend? Maybe he should just leave. He would have to move all of his stuff back, maybe if he asked nicely, the family would still help him.

Gaara sighed and started pulling the door shut on the bickering twins, “Izuku can do whatever he wants. Also, you are making him uncomfortable. Bye.” The door slammed and Izuku looked at Gaara confused and afraid.

“Sorry about that, they argue a lot, mostly over me. Glad I am not the only one they will argue over now,” Gaara said.

“U-um so you are o-okay with what they were saying?” Izuku asked nervously.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” Gaara asked.

“Well, I won’t be here for long, and I don’t want to overstep and impose on you guys and like-” Gaara interrupted the panicked, rambling boy.

“I don’t think you have a choice with them. You can tell them to stop if it makes you uncomfortable or something, but this is what they tend to do from what I understand, or at least from what Tamaki told me.” Gaara said with a frown, “Them being all clingy is new to me, so he would know better.,“ Gaara shrugged, something in his eyes shifting, “Why won’t you be here for long?”

“I-I… W-well I don’t belong here. I just suddenly interrupted your lives and I don’t understand why you all are so… welcoming.” Izuku’s eyes teared up and Gaara sighed.

“We haven’t been here long either and I certainly don’t mind you being here, and you can see from earlier my siblings love it. Aizawa and Yamada are definitely not going to just let you walk out of here. They seem extremely protective of you. Aizawa looked like he was going to kill someone last night and Yamada seemed to react more strongly than him.” Gaara looked at him seriously, “If you need her gone, say the word and I will become a villain for you.” 

Izuku sputtered, “B-but don’t you want to be a hero?”

Gaara nodded, “I want to help people.”

“Ok… so, being a villain would be counterproductive.”

Gaara frowned, “No, killing her would help you, right?”

“NO!” Izuku shouted and Gaara blinked at him confused.

“She… she is my mother… and… and” Izuku teared up, “It’s not her fault, I-” Izuku stopped and looked down. 

“I don’t want her to get hurt,” Izuku said, “So um, thank you for both your and Shukaku’s offer but-”

“Wait.” Gaara’s eyes narrowed, “Shukaku offered what?”

“W-well last night he heard me freaking out by you just um… falling over, so he made sure I knew you were alright!” Izuku smiled, “And uh- after that he kind of offered to be a hitman? Or find a hitman? I am not sure which.” 

“Huh.” Gaara blinked, “Guess that isn’t bad.” 

“I guess I understand.” Gaara said suddenly after a moment of silence. “No matter what Rasa did, I don’t think I could have hurt him.” Gaara looked towards his hands, “No matter how much he hurt me.” Izuku watched Gaara in silence, unsure of what to say or to do. 

After a minute, Izuku decided to just go and sit next to the boy, who soon spoke again.

“I guess killing her really wouldn’t help anything, it would probably just make things worse for you,” Gaara admitted, “I just don’t… know feelings? I don’t understand how to help you. I am not like my siblings, I am not kind… I always do the wrong thing. I think I am broken. Maybe… maybe I shouldn’t be a hero… I would just make things worse,” Gaara’s eyes were empty and Izuku started to sob.

“No,” Izuku sniffed, “You are amazing, Gaara.” Izuku told the boy firmly, “You are helping me, you are being my friend. I think you are going to be an awesome hero,” Izuku gave Gaara a hug, “Well, as long as you don’t go out and murder someone.” Izuku laughed and he was rewarded with a small smile from Gaara. 

“Ok…” Gaara said softly, pulling away from the sniffling green boy.

“So um,” Izuku sniffed while wiping at his eyes, “Did you decide where to go on your internship? You got a lot of offers.” 

“No, I have no idea who any of these people are.” Gaara admitted, shrugging, “How about you?” 

“All Might told me about his mentor Gran Torino, so I am going with him.” Izuku informed him brightly, “Would you like help going through your offers? I mean you don’t have to I just-”

“No, I would be grateful for your help.” Gaara got up from the bed to rummage through a red bag, “Did you ever make that chat thing that Aizawa wanted you to make?” Izuku froze.

“Not yet.” He laughed nervously, “Maybe after we look through your offers?” 

Gaara gave him a slight nod and returned to the bed with a stack of papers. 

“So, what type of hero are you looking to intern with? Daylight or Underground?” Gaara blinked at Izuku.

“Um, Daylight is like Yamada-sen- Yamada.” Izuku corrected himself, “And Underground heroes are people like Aizawa, who work, well underground! They are often more independent and out of the spotlight.” Gaara shrugged.

“Whatever works.” and Izuku laughed.

“Ok then, that didn’t narrow it down at all… how about a rescue hero or a hero that fights crime?” Gaara paused for a second before shrugging again.

“Both help people so I don’t care.” Izuku sighed.

“Alrighty! This will just take a while then!”

**_~~~_ **

The two boys spent hours pouring over the offers before Gaara stopped Izuku in the middle of a description.

“-they are a rescue team and they call themselves the Wild Wild Pussy cats. They all have cat-” 

Gaara pulled the paper out of Izuku’s hands and signed it. 

“Uh Gaara?” Izuku blinked, “I didn’t get to tell you anything about them, do you know who they are?” Gaara shook his head.

“Um, so why did you just sign their internship offer?”

“I heard all I need to know.” Gaara nodded, determined.

“And that is…” Izuku prompted.

“They have a cat themed team name.” Izuku put his head in his hands.

“Gaara! You can’t just decide where to go for your internship because they have cat names!” Gaara narrowed his eyes at Izuku.

“Yes I can.” The boys locked into a staring contest before Izuku sighed and turned away. 

“Fine, they are really cool and amazing heroes anyways.”

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Izuku let out a groan. 

“I guess I should go and make that group chat now.” Gaara nodded and sent him what he hoped to be an encouraging look as Izuku pulled out his phone from under a pile of papers.

Izuku opened his messaging app only to see messages from the group chat he was already in.

**insomniac queers™**

needs_beefy arms [7:20 p.m.]: So. turns out I am interning with Your Dad ™ … nedzu called me down today and there he was. My idol- just sitting there. And Bang! Suddenly they are telling me my internship will be like a training period to see if I am qualified for joining a hero course

needs_beefy arms [7:46 p.m.]: guys I am freaking out

needs_beefy arms [8:12 p.m.]: guys seriously. Help

needs_beefy arms [8:33 p.m.]: Like- training with Gaara and him is one thing… but being alone? I am going to spontaneously combust.

needs_beefy arms [8:38 p.m.]: I know all of you are up so answer me

needs_beefy arms [8:49 p.m.]: Also. The training thing. Is that still happening anytime soon? I was going to ask Gaara during lunch today, but both you and Mido were acting strange… Well… Gaara, you are always strange but like Mido was definitely weirder than normal.

needs_beefy arms [9:01 p.m.]: GUYS I WILL FIND YOU AND YOU WILL NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN IF YOU DON’T ANSWER ME!

needs_selfconfidence [9:04 p.m.]: I am so so so sorry Shinso!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

needs_selfconfidence [9:04 p.m.]: Gaara and I were going over his internship offers and we didn’t check our phones!!!!!!!!!! 

needs_selfconfidence [9:05 p.m.]: That is amazing Shinso!!!!!!!

needs_beefy arms [9:06 p.m.]: Took you long enough

needs_beefy arms [9:07 p.m.]: Wait. you’re with Gaara?

needs_selfconfidence [9:08 p.m.]: Um, maybe?

needs_beefy arms [9:08 p.m.]: :( 

needs_meme_education [9:09 p.m.]: Izuku is living here

needs_beefy arms [9:09 p.m.]: … first. First name basis? Second. Explanation please?

the_birb_one(s) [9:09 p.m.]: What a mad banquet of darkness

needs_selfconfidence [9:10 p.m.]: could you guys call me Izuku or something too? 

the_birb_one(s) [9:11 p.m.]: Of course, dark companion. You may also use my first name

needs_beefy arms [9:13 p.m.]: of course… call me Hitoshi?

needs_meme_education [9:13 p.m.]: Gaara

needs_selfconfidence [9:13 p.m.]: Thank you, Toshi-kun! Fumi-kun! Um. As to why I am staying here, it's like complicated? I am not sure how to explain. Give me a bit.

needs_beefy arms [9:14 p.m.]: hey, you don’t have to say anything if you are uncomfortable. 

the_birb_one(s) [9:15 p.m.]: yes Izuku, don’t worry about it

needs_selfconfidence [9:15 p.m.]: no, I think I want you guys to know? It’s just probably me overreacting probably, and nothing is really wrong, but it is but I don’t really know how to feel and stuff and I don’t know. It is just. I don’t know.

needs_beefy arms [9:16 p.m.]: well take your time, ok?

needs_selfconfidence [9:23 p.m.]: Gaara is going to explain

needs_meme_education [9:25 p.m.]: Izuku’s mother is never around and he hasn’t seen her in a long time. She just sends him money from time to time. Aizawa found out so he is now living with us.

needs_beefy arms [9:26 p.m.]: wtf. Do we need to murder someone? I got a pitchfork around here somewhere. I am glad you are staying with Gaara and them tho. You know you don’t deserve being abandoned, right? That’s just messed up. 

the_birb_one(s) [9:27 p.m.]: That is horrible that you have had to deal with that. If you need anything I am here. Also, Gaara, you are living with Aizawa?

needs_selfconfidence [9:28 p.m.]: thank you guys. You don't know how much this means to me. I just feel like I am betraying her I guess? It isn’t like she was mean or hit me or anything, not like my dad. 

needs_meme_education [9:28 p.m.]: Yes. Yamada and Aizawa are currently in the process of adopting me and my siblings. 

needs_beefy arms [9:29 p.m.]: ok. Eventually we are going back to that dad statement, but not important right now. You haven’t done anything wrong but she has. Just because she gives you money doesn’t make her a good parent. I know she is your mom so like that guilt will probably stay, but it is unfounded. You are not doing anything wrong. 

the_birb_one(s) [9:30 p.m.]: what a mad banquet of darkness… but Hitoshi is correct. You deserve to live with people that actually will care about you. 

needs_selfconfidence [9:30 p.m.]: you guys are amazing, I have never really had friends before.

needs_beefy arms [9:31 p.m.]: you know I haven’t either and I think you are amazing yourself.

Somewhere in a dark room, Shinso was burning with regret as he saw the sent icon turn to read by three.

the_birb_one(s) [9:31 p.m.]: reciprocated 

_ needs_beefy arms changed needs_selfconfidence’s name to tiny_bean_must_protecc _

tiny_bean_must_protecc [9:32 p.m.]: (´∀｀)♡

tiny_bean_must_protecc [9:33 p.m.]: also, no killing! I already had this conversation once with Gaara today!

the_birb_one(s) [9:33 p.m.]: o h?

_ needs_beefy arms changed needs_meme_education’s name to cat-bean_attacc  _

cat-bean_attacc [9:34 p.m.]: yes. No killing. 

needs_beefy arms [9:35 p.m.]: fine, but if you need anything else just let me know.

the_birb_one(s) [9:35 p.m.]: me as well

tiny_bean_must_protecc [9:36 p.m.]: thank you, I will do <3

In that same dark room, Shinso tried not to spontaneously combust at the heart emoji that definitely wasn’t meant just for him, he did however drop his phone on his face.

**_~~~_ **

“Thanks again, Gaara for telling them.” Gaara tried to give Izuku what he thought was a comforting smile, and as the boy didn’t flinch away in terror, Gaara supposed that he managed it.

“Don’t forget about the group chat.” Gaara reminded him, and Izuku’s face crumpled. 

‘I guess it isn’t that bad! I just have to make the group chat, I don’t have to introduce it, right?” Gaara sighed.

“Sure? I am not really sure how it works. I don’t think you have to be worried about the class judging you or anything, they seem tolerable.” 

“I know, it’s just scary! I think I can do it though! I got this!” Izuku tried and Gaara gave him a thumbs up while the boy began to furiously text on his phone.

**Class 1-A Group Chat**

Midoriya [9:39 p.m.]: Hello! Aizawa-sensei asked me to make a groupchat, as you may remember from me collecting your numbers the other day. Sorry this is so late!

_ Midoriya changed their name to Deku _

Tokoyami [9:40 p.m.]: what a mad banquet of darkness

_ Tokoyami changed their name to Tsukiyomi _

Gaara [9:41 p.m.]: what does that phrase mean that you keep saying so much?

Tsukiyomi [9:41 p.m.]: It is a banquet, of darkness

Gaara [9:41 p.m.]: ok.

Tsukiyomi [9:42 p.m.]: I am now going to leave this chat. I shall hear from you soon, fellow insomniacs, plus our other tired friend not included here.

Izuku’s reply was interrupted by a knock on the open door.

The pair looked up to see Aizawa in the doorway.

“Hey, I know this is late, but we need to talk in the living room about tomorrow.”

Izuku followed Aizawa and Gaara down the stairs extremely confused and terrified. Were they finally kicking him out?

Aizawa led them to the living room where the others were already lounging. 

“So, tomorrow is a big day listeners! It is our hearing before the official adoption decision. So um, obviously all of us except Izuku have to leave school early to go to that… so yeah! Izuku, what do you want to do? Do you want to come with us? Do you not want to miss school? Or?” Yamada asked, obviously nervous.

“I-is it alright for me to come with you?” Izuku asked, hesitantly.

“Yes.” Aizawa told him.

“Ok, then if you are sure can I come?”

“Of course, little listener! Um, so there is one more thing we should probably talk about… so Izuku… you are going to have to talk to detective Tsukauchi, unless you don’t like him! We just know him personally and he is really trustworthy, but if you decide you don’t like him, you can give your statement to someone else, ok? And you don’t have to worry about having to go back. Once the police get started investigating there is no way you are going back and we were already granted yesterday the right for an emergency foster! So the law knows we are not kidnapping you!” Yamada rushed out. Izuku sat silently for a long moment before speaking.

“Thank you guys. If you both trust him, I think I can too. I just-” Izuku shut his mouth, “Nevermind. Thank you.” 

Yamada and Aizawa shared a look, “Of course, problem child. You tell us when you are ready to give the statement, and if you want one of us in there with you or not. This is all in your control, alright?” Izuku nodded and looked at the ground.

“I-I kind of want it to be over, s-so just as s-soon as I can, I guess? A-and as l-long as you are not b-busy A-aizawa s-sensei and y-you wouldn’t m-mind…”

“Of course, Izuku, I will contact him tonight to figure it out.” Aizawa told him before turning to address the entire group, “Now, we have school tomorrow, so go get some kind of rest please? I have to go out on patrol now.”

“Cool.” Kankuro gave him a thumbs up, “I just want to know, do we need to kill anyone?” Izuku put his face into his hands.

“NO! Again there will be no killing!” Izuku moaned, wondering what was wrong with people.

“Alrighty then.” Kankuro shrugged. 

Izuku looked up when the conversation stopped there, “Don’t you want to know why I am here or whatever?” Izuku asked, confused.

“Eh, I figured you would tell us if you wanted us to know and felt comfortable.” Kankuro shrugged again.

“It doesn't matter to us! We are content with knowing that you just need us to be there for you.” Temari comforted.

“Awwww,” Yamada cooed and Izuku’s eyes began tearing up again.

“W-well, um, I-I… thank you.” He finished lamely. 

“Group hug!!!” Kakuro called out, and everyone was roped in before anyone could sneak their way out of it. 

After they broke apart, Izuku spoke again.

“I kind of want you to know, you deserve to know. I just can’t tell you.” He looked at the twins helplessly and Aizawa ruffled his hair as he left.

“Don’t worry about it, problem child.” Aizawa called out as he left the house and Izuku turned towards Yamada.

“You want me to tell them, Izuku?” Yamada asked, and Izuku nodded, hurriedly turning to leave. 

He didn’t think he could deal with their reactions at the moment. 

Izuku reached Gaara’s room to find the boy behind him, who also offered up a small smile which Izuku returned.

After cuddling with the cats, Izuku slowly fell asleep, Gaara watching over him protectively. 

_ “Not at all like a stalker.”  _ Shukaku snorted and Gaara rolled his eyes.

“ _ Whatever.”  _ Gaara responded, continuing to pet Floof and make sure Izuku stayed safe from harm. 


	81. Chapter 78 ~ Morning Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little shorter of a chapter, just cause we are getting into the big stuff and I had to write this one on my own. I didn’t want to do major plot stuff without Shinji, so here we are. Also. This may be a little rough on the grammar aspect. Shinji does that. Me and words no mix. I was always told as a kid that because I read so much I would be amazing at spelling and such. Nope. I am soooo bad… it is honestly really funny. But yeah! Thank you all for your well wishes, I am feeling a little better this week, I just got through my first 2.5 hour exam and that was a big help to my mental state. Thank you all for reading and feel free to reach out, we love hearing from y’all   
> ~ Iwa (it may or may not be 3:01 am)   
> https://discord.gg/y6BVP4buBH

Gaara watched Izuku carefully as they went downstairs for breakfast in the morning. 

Izuku seemed like he was fine, he smiled and thanked Yamada as he was handed a plate, but something seemed off.

As Izuku went back to Gaara’s room to get ready for school, Gaara approached Temari who was washing dishes at the sink.

“Temari?” Gaara asked, and his sister jumped.

“Gaara! You can’t just sneak up on me like that!” Gaara blinked. He just walked up to her, and he didn’t see her problem. 

“Izuku seems upset. Why is he upset?” Gaara asked, and Temari turned toward him, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Well,” Temari started, drying off her hands on a towel and looking towards Yamada who waived her off, “Why don’t we go and talk in the living room?” Gaara shrugged, but began walking toward the room anyways. 

“Gaara,” Temari sighed, sitting down on the couch, “Do you remember when we first came here? It wasn’t that long ago… like it has felt like forever, but it has only been a few short weeks.” Gaara looked puzzled but nodded anyways.

“Do you remember what you felt when our lives suddenly changed? It was weird wasn’t it?” This time Gaara nodded confidently and began to see where his sister was going.

“So Izuku is likely experiencing something similar. You could just ask him how he is feeling, you know,” Temari suggested and Gaara frowned.

“Wouldn’t that make him more upset?” Gaara’s frown deepened and Temari gave him a light smile.

“I don’t know…” Temari leaned over to ruffle Gaara’s hair and smiled when he didn’t back away, “But, it is up to you.”

Gaara gave a nod and turned his attention to his phone.

**Class 1-A Group Chat**

Kaminari [5:42 a.m.]: Yo yo what dis

_ Kaminari changed their name to Chargebolt _

Bakugo [5:44 a.m.]: Wtf are you doing up this early dunce face

Chargebolt [5:45 a.m.]: My sis woke me up what ur excuse 

_ Chargebolt changed Bakugo’s name to Explodoman _

Explodoman [5:45 a.m.]: WTF DUNCE FACE

Kirishima [5:45 a.m.]: Hey bakubro

Explodoman [5:46 a.m.]: whatever.

Explodoman [5:46 a.m.]: I am working out, obviously

_ Kirishima changed their name to Red Riot _

Red Riot [5:47 a.m.]: That’s so manly bro! 

Chargebolt [5:47 a.m.]: @Gaara @Deku @Tsukuyomi 10 pm isn’t late, why u b insomniacs?

Gaara [5:48 a.m.]: Most of us don’t sleep often. 

Chargebolt [5:49 a.m.]: op idk why but I really didn’t expect you of all people to answer. 

Gaara [5:49 a.m.]: Why?

Chargebolt [5:50 a.m.]: Idk bro you just quiet 

Red Riot [5:50 a.m.]: Quietness and mystery is really manly tho bro!

Tsukiyomi [5:50 a.m.]: Gaara speaks a considerable amount. 

Chargebolt [5:51 a.m.]: bruh. Are you not in the same class as us? He barely speaks

Tsukiyomi [5:51 a.m.]: Who said anything about in class?

Chargebolt [5:52 a.m.]: wait what?! 

Gaara [5:52 a.m.]: what a mad banquet of darkness

Gaara [5:52 a.m.]: did I do that right?

Tsukiyomi [5:53 a.m.]: You are beginning to embrace the darkness of the language that we speak. Soon you fly, young padawan.

Gaara [5:53 a.m.]: but I can fly? And what does language have anything to do with flying? 

Chargebolt [5:53 a.m.]: lmao 

Gaara was pulled away from his phone when Yamada came running down the stairs with a very bird-like shriek.

The man’s hair was half up into his iconic hairstyle, while the other was in various states of disarray. 

“SHOTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!” Yamada screamed, “I NEED HELP RIGHT NOW! HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP!!!!!” The twins and Izuku scrambled down the stairs, panicked expressions on their faces.

Gaara turned to see Aizawa walking out of the kitchen, quirk activated.

“Hizashi.” Aizawa deadpanned, “Please remember that there are now other people in this house that may actually think your cries are for a genuine emergency.” At Aizawa’s words, everyone else in the house immediately relaxed. If Aizawa wasn’t worried, they knew there was no need for them to be.

“But it IS an emergency!” Yamada protested, “You need to save me from the bugs!!” Temari and Kankuro face palmed at his words while Gaara and Izuku only blinked. Aizawa gave an exasperated sigh.

“Just give me a minute, I want to finish my coffee first.” Aizawa stated, shambling back into the kitchen.

“BUT SHOOOO!” Yamada whined, “I need help NOW!” Yamada stomped his leg to prove his point.

“And  _ I  _ need coffee now.” Aizawa replied, not budging in his decision, causing Yamada to pout. 

Gaara stood up from the couch and turned to Yamada, “Where are these bugs?” Yamada turned towards Gaara in surprise.

“MY SAVIOR!” Yamada cheered, “It’s in Sho and I’s bathroom, please get rid of them, I beg you, oh brave hero.” Gaara shrugged and began to walk towards Yamada and Aizawa’s room, Izuku hesitantly following them. 

Yamada reached the doorway of his room and cowered to the side of the door frame.

“In there.” He whispered, terrified look on his face. Gaara just shrugged again and entered the room.

It was when he passed through the door that Gaara realized he had never seen the inside of the couple’s room before. 

The room had a lot of personality, and Gaara could discern the separate identities of each of the occupants, and yet it all worked as one complete unit. 

The room was both extremely clean and well lived in and Gaara loved it.

Most of the things in the room, except for the personal items, were gray and a navy blue, surprising Gaara because that wasn’t the colors that he would expect the two to have.

However, he didn’t have much more time to look around, he had a mission after all. 

Gaara marched to the open bathroom door with Izuku trailing behind him, curious as to how this would play out. 

The bathroom was full of various colors and sizes of bottles, all over the place yet organized. Gaara frowned when he didn’t immediately see any type of bug anywhere in the room.

He walked out of the room and back into Yamada’s line of sight.

“Did you get rid of them?” He asked in a small voice and Gaara shook his head.

“Where are they supposed to be? I don’t see them.” Yamada paled and Gaara cocked his head.

“In the bathroom…” Gaara sighed.

“I got that part.” Gaara frowned and Yamada inched forward and moved to the doorway of the bathroom. 

“T-there.” Yamada pointed to the right hand corner of the ceiling where there were in fact, three beetles. 

Gaara instantly reached out with his sand and crushed them effortlessly, then turning towards Yamada proud of himself, only to find the man falling to the ground.

Being too surprised to react, Gaara could only watch as Izuku rushed forward to catch the man. 

Just as Gaara had effortlessly crushed the beatles, Izuku swept up Yamada into a bridal carry, panicking.

“U-Uh… I think w-we should g-go see Aizawa, to m-make sure Y-yamada is ok.” Izuku suggested, hoping the man he was holding was ok. 

Gaara nodded, eyes wide and the pair rushed downstairs as fast as they could safely go.

“A-Aizawa!” Izuku panted, “ Yamada passed out!” Aizawa’s head whipped up from where he was seated at the table, and upon seeing his husband he rushed forward, his chair falling to the floor behind him.

Aizawa gently took his husband from Izuku, sighing in relief when he realized Yamada was breathing.

“Hizashi has an intense phobia of bugs. I am very surprised he went back upstairs with you. He usually will stay as far away from the sighting until I rectify the problem.” Aizawa frowned, and walked into the living room to set Hizashi down on the couch. 

“Y-yeah, he went right up to the bathroom door. He only fainted when Gaara crushed the beatles with his sand.” Izuku informed him and Aizawa’s frown deepened. 

“Idiot.” Aizawa grumbled. Sighing he stood up from the crouch he was in, looking towards the two boys in front of him.

“Thank you. I am sure Hizashi will appreciate it as well as soon as he wakes up. Are you guys ready for school?” Izuku and Gaara both nodded, “Great. We will leave as soon as Hizashi wakes up. Good thing Kankuro decided to make something that can be eaten on the go.”

“U-um,” Izuku stuttered out, “What is the t-thing with c-cooking? D-do you a-all take turns?”

Aizawa snorted, “Problem child, if I was given a turn in the kitchen by myself, the world is probably ending. Even then Hizashi probably wouldn’t let me. Kankuro and Hizashi usually share the kitchen, although sometimes they do get into a fight to the death for the position.” 

“O-oh, just thought I would ask,” Izuku said, “j-just let me know what you w-want me to do. I-I don’t want to take advantage of your h-hospitality.” Aizawa’s face fell into a frown again. 

“Problem Child.” Izuku flinched and Aizawa winced and tried again, “Izuku. You don’t need to do anything. I promise. If you want to, you can always ask, but we would rather you just be yourself and do what you want.” Aizawa leaned over to ruffle Izuku’s hair. 

“O-ok,” Izuku nodded, although his facial expression revealed he wasn’t convinced.

“Do you like to cook, kid, is that why you asked?” Aizawa inquired and Izuku nodded.

“Well, I think I am moderately ok at it, I guess. I had to learn if I didn’t want to just eat instant noodles everyday.” Something dark flashed across Aizawa’s face, “I kind of grew to enjoy it.”

“I am sure if you ask, Kankuro would let you help.” Aizawa said fondly and Izuku perked up, bowing before rushing to the kitchen.

Aizawa sighed again, running his hand through his hair. These emotionally repressed kids were going to be the death of him.

Aizawa looked down to see Gaara staring at Hizashi with something unfamiliar in his expression. 

“Hey Gaara,” Aizawa spoke softly and the boy flinched, but didn’t take his eyes off of Hizashi.

“It is my fault he passed out.” Gaara stated, “He was fine until I killed the bugs.” Gaara’s expression turned sad.

“Gaara, will you look at me?” Aizawa asked. The boy didn’t make any move to turn his head from Hizashi.

“I promise that it isn’t your fault. It is very common for people to pass out when a threat has passed when it has caused them significant emotional distress.” Gaara finally tore his eyes away from Hizashi to look up at Aizawa with hope in his eyes, “Hizashi was probably trying to be brave in front of you guys and it backfired on him. I am positive he will be happy to know that the threat has been neutralized.” Aizawa gave him a small smile, “You did good kid.” 

Gaara looked at him like he just hung the stars and Aizawa decided that he would gladly die if he could save these kids from themselves. 


	82. Chapter 79 ~ Lesson Turned Disaster and Panic Before the Disco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, know this is late, life has been interesting but it is slowly getting better, possibly. I was re-reading this fic the other day and kudos to anyone who got past the first like 15 or so chapters. It was uh… interesting to say the least. It has been a year now since we started DnB and it is amazing to see how much we have grown. Thank you all for being there! We really appreciate you all. Next chapter is the hearing, trial, and a party or a goodbye… which one will it be ? :) https://discord.gg/3K4s92ZZJM

Ectoplasm had decided to give the kids a break from actual geometry content and decided he would teach them how to draw certain shapes with compasses and a straight edge. 

Shapes were a big part of geometry and it was important to know what angles they were made of anyways. 

It was only ten minutes into the lesson and he already regretted his decision. 

“Look at my lumpy circle!” Kaminari presented proudly.

“It looks stupid, dunce face. Besides, the point is to make perfect circles. Like mine,” Bakugo scoffed.

“Yeah… perfect,” Jiro rolled her eyes and Bakugo stood up, small explosions coming off of his hands.

“What does that mean Earphones?!” Bakugo growled and Kirishima got up as well.

“Hey Bakubro,” Kirishima said, placing his hands on Bakugo’s shoulders, “I think your circle is perfect, so how about you sit back down.”

“Kirishima? Bro? Did you draw a square?” Sero suddenly asked, looking over at Kirishima’s desk.

Kirishima grinned sheepishly, “I was kind of having problems with the round parts… so I just made some lines?”

Bakugo snorted, “At least it is better than Dunce Face’s disaster. Shitty hair knows how to make a square.”

“Wow,” Mina raised an eyebrow, “Did blasty-bro just compliment someone?”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY RACCOON EYES?!” Bakugo shouted.

“I think I can draw a better square,” Todoroki declared, looking at Bakugo with a straight face.

“No you can’t, half and half bastard!” Bakugo growled.

“I drew a dick,” Sero stated and Kaminari got up to look.

“I bet I could draw a better one,” Kaminari declared.

“Well I can draw the best one. I think this calls for a contest,” Mina scoffed, narrowing her eyes.

“You’re on,” Sero said and the three started madly drawing on their papers.

“Mina! Sero! Kaminari!” Iida finally registered what was going on, “That is extremely inappropriate in a school environment!” His face was bright red in mortification, “I command you to stop this instant!”

Of course the three ignored him and continued concentrating on their work.

“I bet a math assignment that Mina will have the best,” Jiro commented casually.

“Nah, I think that Kaminari has definitely got this one in the bag,” Kirishima nodded, sure of himself.

“What the fuck are you losers doing?” Bakugo sneered.

“I think Jiro is right, Mina is going to have the best picture,” Momo said softly, face red.

While this was happening, the other side of the classroom, minus Iida, was having a whole different experience.

“I think I am pretty good at this!” Hagakure smiled, not that anyone could see.

“Yeah, I think this is the only thing in this class I haven’t utterly failed at,” Uraraka said miserably.

“I think that drawing these shapes are boring so I decided to draw flowers instead.” Sato announced, holding up his extremely well drawn flowers with not so perfect circles.

“I made hexagons!” Izuku said bashfully and Uraraka’s eyes lit up.

“How did you do that Deku?”

“Well, you just make eight circles and then use a straight edge to connect the points!” **_(y’all I am sorry if this is wrong, it is something like that tho. Trust me. I spent like a week on drawing things with circles in my geometry class. However, that was four years ago. Shinji how long did u spend? Shinji also spent around a week.)_ ** Izuku explained happily.

Uraraka looked at Izuku helplessly before smiling fearfully, “Yeah, I think I should just stick with my simple circles… Maybe I will make a design like Sato!”

“I made a pond, kero,” Tsuyu spoke up and Tokoyami looked downwards at their circle that was filled in with black.

“The void takes all,” Tokoyami said ominously. 

“Um…” Uraraka started nervously, “Are you ok?” Gaara just nodded appreciatively.

“I made a circle,” Garra stated proudly and Uraraka frowned at the unopened box containing the boy’s compass. 

“Did you just… draw that?” The girl asked and Gaara nodded, “How did you make that perfect of a circle without the compass?!” Gaara blinked and shrugged, picking up his pencil to stare directly at Uraraka and draw another perfect circle without even looking. 

**_(full metal alchemist music starts playing XD)_ **

The girl just stared back in shock . 

“CLASS!” Ectoplasm suddenly shouted, “We are now done with this assignment, anyone who keeps going after this point gets an entire packet worth of math problems.” The threat of work made even the contest stop in its tracks, everyone participating shoving their drawings away for later. 

“Now. For the rest of the class period, I am going to lecture on the importance of respect and listening to your teacher when given an assignment. If you were to do this in your future profession as a hero, who knows how many lives could be lost. So listen carefully,” Ectoplasm said firmly. 

Gaara decided not to listen. He had listened before and done what was asked of him. Therefore he felt like he shouldn’t have to listen now.

He shot a look over at Izuku to see the boy fidgeting and flinching at every inflection in Ectoplasm’s voice. Gaara narrowed his eyes. 

Izuku was acting as if he was expecting to get hurt. Gaara frowned, he wasn’t sure why Izuku was reacting like this, did he lie when he said his mother had never hurt him? Or maybe it was his father? Or it was just the prolonged anxiety just responding… However, it looked like more than that.

Gaara got up from his seat, ignoring Ectoplasm asking him what he was doing, and opened the window. Satisfied with this part of his mission, he got started on the second.

“ _ Are you going to do what I think you are going to do?”  _ Shukaku grinned evilly.

“ _ He needs out of here. He doesn’t deserve to be upset.”  _ Gaara’s frown deepened at that, before recovering and carrying out the rest of his mission. 

Gaara used his sand to send Izuku out of the classroom, via the window. 

“Gaara,” Ectoplasm spoke firmly, “Bring your classmate back in right now.”

“No,” Gaara said, crossing his arms. Ectoplasm reeled back, not exactly expecting resistance.

“If you do not bring him in, there will be consequences.” Gaara shrugged. He could deal with anything they threw at him.

“I will not. Izuku was uncomfortable with being in the classroom. He is safe now,” Gaara said, satisfied. 

The class broke out in conversation hearing Midoriya’s first name. Ectoplasm opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted.

“Dude, are you and Midoriya dating?!” Mina shouted.

Gaara furrowed his face in confusion. Dating was like what Mirio and Tamaki were doing… unless there was a different definition he was unaware of. 

“No?”

“That sounded like a denial,” Uraraka narrowed her eyes.

“We should respect our classmates’ privacy and not pry,” Iida hand chopped, “However, know that we support your relationship if it exists.”

Gaara just shrugged and several people took this as a confirmation the relationship existed and squealed. 

“I hate to quell the chaos, however, Gaara and Izuku are not dating,” Fumikage informed the class, “We are all friends and decided that the use of first names made more sense due to our circumstances,” he stopped without any further explanation.

This quieted down the class somewhat and Ectoplasm took it as his chance to not be interrupted.

“Gaara. I promise that Deku is in no danger in the classroom. Now would you please bring him back into the classroom?” Ectoplasm asked instead of demanding this time, trying to limit the chance that Gaara saw him as a threat to Deku’s safety.

Ectoplasm kept his face as relaxed as possible as Gaara turned his scrutinizing gaze to him, searching for any type of a lie.

Gaara finally shrugged and brought a defeated Izuku back into the classroom.

“Ok. We are just going to sit here for the rest of the class period in silence,” Ectoplasm decided, sighing because he would have to bring this entire fiasco up with Aizawa. Hopefully in that conversation someone will have a way to make Deku feel more comfortable in class, but Ectoplasm suspected that it would just take time.

**_~~~_ **

The rest of the morning classes went by with the majority of the class being strangely well behaved. 

Gaara’s face was mixed with one of both concern, for Izuku, and annoyance, for the stalker sitting next to him. 

Gaara finally got fed up with the boy next to him that didn’t see anything wrong with constantly staring at someone like they were some sort of experiment. 

“You,” Gaara stated, narrowing his eyes without looking at Todoroki. This led to confusion as to who the boy was actually talking to, but it was soon cleared up with Gaara’s next words.

“Don’t stare at me.” The students that knew they were not staring turned away, leaving Todoroki opening and closing his mouth, searching for something to say. 

“I apologize, I was unaware you were uncomfortable,” Todoroki finally settled on, hoping that was the right thing to say.

The class was in the middle of a study period, the last thing they had to do before lunch. 

Todoroki hadn’t exactly meant to stare, he had just been thinking and decided that today was the day he was going to have a conversation with Gaara. It just happened that he had no idea how or when to spark said conversation. 

The incident in Ectoplasm’s class had only added to his curiosity of Gaara. It wasn’t like he was obsessed, right? He had to admit it was really weird of him to be staring for that long and not even notice. Perhaps he should ask Midoriya to help with his theory, Gaara seemed close to Midoriya, and this way he wouldn’t upset Gaara anymore.

However, that also felt wrong. Todorioki looked up again to see Momo sending a pointed look at him.

Todoroki sighed, now if he didn’t talk to Gaara, Momo would be disappointed in him. He tried to avoid her disappointment. It wasn’t like they were really close or anything, they had just come to a sort of mutual friendship shortly after the sports festival. They had talked about a few things and Momo had been really upset about how quickly she lost. 

After the sports festival they started talking more often, and Momo revealed that she was lesbian and had a crush on Jirou. That led to Todoroki having a crisis, thinking that he had to give her the same information and finding he had no idea. 

Momo had just patted him on the back and told him not to worry about it, he would figure it out later. 

Todoroki eventually confided in her about his theories and his possible want to become friends with Midoriya. He at least wanted to thank him for the sports festival. However, Midoriya was always around other people and he really didn’t know how to deal with social situations. Besides, how do you go up to someone and say: Hey, thank you for helping to pierce through eleven years of trauma with one phrase. Speaking of that, want to be friends although I have no clear idea how to be one, as I have no social skills? 

So he said nothing to no one. Not even the boy that he had been wanting to have a conversation with ever since the day he found him in the library.

Momo had told him several times that he didn’t need a plan, he just needed to talk to Gaara. 

“I just was…” Todoroki paused when Gaara turned to look at him, “wanting to talk to you?” out of the corner of his eye, he saw Momo give him a thumbs up, and Gaara cocked his head, obvious even to Todoroki that he was confused.

“Then why not speak to me instead of stare?” Gaara asked, and fairly so.

Todoroki shrugged, “I didn’t know how to.” Gaara looked at him strangely.

“You didn’t know how to speak?”

“No, I meant I wasn’t sure how to start a conversation.”

“Oh,” Gaara shrugged.

“So, would you like to talk after school? Or something?” Gaara frowned.

“I am busy today. Perhaps tomorrow at lunch. Would that be ok?”

“Sure.” Both boys awkwardly turned away from each other and continued on with their work as if nothing had happened. 

“ _ Niceeee… It sounded like you both were conducting a business transaction.” _ Shukaku chuckled, causing Gaara to shrug again. 

“ _ I guess if it works…”  _ Shukaku sighed. 

**_~~~_ **

Lunch came too quickly for Yamada. 

He knew this day was coming all week and he knew that it would most likely go just fine, but he couldn’t stop worrying that it would go horribly wrong.

He didn’t want to lose these kids. The siblings all deserved the world and to have them ripped away from people they were comfortable with would be devastating. Not to mention Yamada was extremely attached. 

He was already getting attached to Izuku, and that is who he should be really worried about in the grand scheme of things. Him and Aizawa’s chance of keeping the siblings was exponentially higher than keeping Izuku. 

Yamada knew that they couldn’t just adopt all the kids that needed them, but Izuku just fit into their dynamic so well. He didn’t even know if Izuku was remotely interested in staying with them long term, but he guessed he should worry about that after they knew for sure the court’s decision.

**_(Actually yamada, it is probably more likely the peeps would allow you to foster/adopt more kids because you have been proved to be able to provide a safe and loving environment and unless you didn’t have the means to care for them, you would be fine…. But uh. Paranoid Yamada.)_ **

**** Yamada had told the twins that he would come and meet them near the front gate halfway through lunch. 

He left U.A. to see the nervous smiles of Temari and Kankuro, however, their faces looked determined.

**_~~~_ **

  
  


Kankuro and Temari had a hard time escaping from their group of friends at lunch. Mirio insisted on a group hug and Nejire kept trying to weasel her way into coming with them. 

Even Tamaki was hesitant to let them walk away, knowing how important staying together as a family was to them. 

“Yes, we will be sure to text you as soon as it is over,” Kankuro reassured for the upteenth time.

“Ok good,” Nejire said, her voice muffled in Kankuro’s shoulder, “Actually scratch that, you should call.”

“Ok, we will call,” Kankuro sighed, “Now, can you let us go? It would look really bad if we were late, you know.” 

That finally caused Mirio and Nejire to let go of the twins after one last final tight squeeze. 

Ready or not, it was time.

**_~~~_ **

Gaara sighed as the concerned look that he had been looking at Izuku with earlier was now reversed on to him. 

“We have to go, Aizawa is waiting on us.” Gaara informed Izuku, who jumped and started putting away his lunch.

“Oh right!” Izuku scrambled, “We should get going then, goodbye Fu-chan, Shadow-chan!” Fumikage smiled.

“Let me know when it is over and how it went, although I believe you have nothing to worry about.” 

“Of course!” Izuku waved, as he grabbed Gaara by the hand and started to drag him back to the classroom where Aizawa was waiting. 

“I have to thank Kankuro for making me lunch this morning!” Izuku smiled, nervously. Gaara nodded, hoping that this would be over soon. Who knows, he might even ask Shukaku if he could sleep after this.

“ _ Probably would be a good idea, I don’t think I would mind some time alone after this anyways,”  _ Shukaku said gleefully.

“ _ Just what are you planning?” _ Gaara groaned.

“ _ Oh, nothing really.” _ Shuakau grinned evilly, “ _ It depends on how today goes.” _ with that ominous declaration, Shukaku fell silent. 


End file.
